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A ceasefire along the current front line would put Putin in control of the captured territory in Ukraine. This would be a fundamental violation of the United Nations Charter, setting a bad precedent for other potential aggressors.
There is no point in talking to Putin anyway, because he cannot be trusted. He recently spoke of being open to negotiations, but this is more a sign of desperation than a serious offer of an olive branch.
While Putin talks about negotiating, he showed his real agenda this week with the Russian airstrikes that killed 10 innocent people in the southern city of Kherson.
The main thing is that a decisive victory for Ukraine is still quite possible. The mud will eventually dry out or freeze and the campaign season will begin again.
Provided they have the weapons, the Ukrainians seem incredibly determined to drive the Russian troops from their territory. They have shown themselves to be more motivated to fight than the raw conscripts and paid mercenaries, including released convicts, on whom Putin increasingly relies.
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Putin’s last hope was that he could blackmail or bribe the West into leaving Ukraine. But he seems to have failed.
Putin was counting on isolationist US Republicans to stem the flow of arms to Ukraine, but after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Washington last week, the US Congress overwhelmingly approved an additional $45 billion ($67 billion) in military aid to Ukraine. The US also eventually agreed to supply Patriot anti-aircraft missiles, which Ukraine has been asking for since the beginning of the war.
The war has dragged on for far too long and Ukraine is suffering, but Australia must support its allies and continue our support until Putin gives in.