Time for a Diplomatic Surge on Ukraine / Russia

The course of events in Russia during the past week has been both heartening (Putin shaken) and disturbing (Men even more deranged than Putin may gain control.) A few days before the Wagner Group rebellion, former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul urged the U.S. to “launch a diplomatic surge on Ukraine.” A peace settlement with favorable terms from the standpoint of Ukraine and the West might be more possible now than it has been or will be in the future. Concessions with little or no substantive value could be made to Putin that would enable him to save face. The tenor of the settlement would be that Putin fought the war to gain the peace. NATO would formally guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and, not that they ever needed it, Russia’s too. The continual killing and maiming of great numbers of Ukrainians and Russians would stop.