ANALYSIS – Despite the will of Western European countries who would like to impose a ceasefire and negotiations, the ground shows no signs of easing.
In Western Europe, voices are rising louder and louder to call for an end to the war in Ukraine. The latest initiative to date, a peace plan presented by Italy, which a Ukrainian diplomat describes as “pale copy of the Minsk agreements”. From Rome to Berlin via Paris, the objective is now to create the conditions for a ceasefire and the opening of negotiations between Moscow and kyiv. However, on the ground, the war seems on the contrary to last.
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On the Russian side, first. In December 1994, when they launched the first invasion of Chechnya, Russian officials thought they could put down the rebellion in 48 hours with a battalion of paratroopers. They took several years and two wars to overcome it. The attack launched on February 24 was also to decapitate the government of kyiv in a few days. Three months later, the capital is still in the hands of the Ukrainians who have driven the Russians out. And in the Donbass, the fighting drags on