By Celsus Ohain
Benin, June 1, ’25 (TNZ) Russia’s strongman, Vladimir Putin, may have intended a lightning war, a ‘blitzkrieg’ of a sort on Feb. 22, 2022, when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. It has turned out not to be so in a war that has dragged on for three years now.
Ukraine may have seemed an underdog at the start of the war. But it has proved its own thus far, showing what sheer will and grit could achieve for you. It’s a stalemate at this moment, despite the gains and losses here and there on both sides.
War fatigue and exhaustion have set in, and under the circumstances, a realistic peace talk may now be possible.
Come June 2, the Russia and Ukraine delegations are billed to meet in Istanbul, Turkey, to explore the possibility of cessation of hostilities. The move is partially at the instrumentality of America’s Donald Trump and Turkey’s strongman, Tayyip Recep Erdogan.
The Istanbul Talks may well prove a safe landing turf for all parties in the bitter and excruciating war. Either directly, indirectly or by proxy, not excluding NATO, whose European members are already exhausted despite the pretences.
US President Donald Trump can pull the peace strings by being partially detached from his country’s erstwhile posture to the war under his predecessor, Joe Biden. Trump has held back massive arms shipments to Ukraine, deviating from Biden’s uncontrolled haste to supply weapons even up to the last hours of his administration.
Trump’s shrewd posture has given him a chance as a ‘concerned mediator’ and ‘peace broker’ when no one, other than Erdogan – another emerging star statesman, was on the horizon.
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Britain, France, Germany, Finland, and other NATO allies wrote themselves off as any mediators, having openly taken sides with Ukraine and supplying them arms and ammunition as well as all manner of military expertise.
Turkey alone stood as a mutually acceptable and ‘credible mediator’ all this while, and it has played that role since the start of the war with adroitness and classic diplomacy. Turkey’s actions engendered trust from the belligerents despite it being a strong NATO member.
The United Nations (UN) has written itself out of any significance. This is due to its newfound clumsiness and lack of purposeful direction in recent war situations.
The Istanbul Talks offer yet another chance for the war in Ukraine to stop. Hard bargaining is ahead as both sides would need to shift grounds. This is even when not palatable – that’s the price of peace!
What enclaves of Ukraine that Russia has already seized shall be retained or ceded? The Crimea? Much doubt! Will Ukraine forgo its NATO membership dream forever? Would NATO itself heed the long-proffered ‘Kissinger’ solution that restrained its Eastward expansionism?
The world waits in anxious expectation of a solution to the Ukraine-Russia War. Failure to reach a truce may well open the gates to the Armageddon of a full-blown World War 3. With the new-age weaponry already oiled for deployment, deaths and destruction loom. (TNZ)
Celsus Ohain, a Nigerian Journalist & Global Diplomacy Analyst, writes from Benin City.
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