The renewed talk of peace in Ukraine carries an air of exhaustion rather than optimism. After years of attrition, all sides speak the language of negotiation, yet the distance between words and reality remains vast. What is often described as a handful of “thorny issues” is, in truth, a set of foundational disagreements about territory, security and legitimacy that cannot be smoothed over by diplomatic sequencing alone. At the heart of the impasse lies eastern Ukraine. Control over Donbas is not simply about lines on a map; it is about law, identity, and the precedent set for future borders.

For Kyiv, surrendering territory would mean legitimising conquest and abandoning citizens who still live under bombardment. For Moscow, partial withdrawal would undercut a war narrative that has been legally and politically locked into place. Any formula that postpones this contradiction rather than resolving it risks freezing the conflict without truly ending it. The........

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