A letter titled “Seize Peace in Ukraine Before It’s tToo Late” was published in City of London daily Financial Times this morning, over the signature of eight British diplomats, academics, journalists and others. The letter begins: “Russia’s latest military gains in the Donetsk region … reinforce the case for a negotiated settlement of the war in Ukraine.” It ridicules the official NATO stance claiming a fight to the death to defeat Russia, insisting that at best it would end up a “continued stalemate on the ground, with a not insignificant chance of a Russian victory.”
They make the rather bizarre claim that “Ukraine has fought for its independence, and won it—as Finland did in 1939-40,” but add that “Some territorial concessions would seem a small price to pay for the reality, rather than semblance, of independence. If a peace based on roughly the present division of forces in Ukraine is inevitable, it is immoral not to try for it now.”
Their conclusion: “The longer the war continues the more territory Ukraine is likely to lose, and the more the pressure for escalation up to a nuclear level is likely to grow. The sooner peace is negotiated the more lives will be saved, the sooner the reconstruction of Ukraine will start and the more quickly the world can be pulled back from the very dangerous brink at which it currently stands.”
The signers include: Lord Skidelsky, Professor Emeritus in political economy University of Warwick, a Keynesian who authored a three-volume biography of Keynes, and whose family had business interests in China in the early 20th century; Richard Sakwa, Professor Emeritus of Russian and European Politics, University of Kent (see interview with EIR,; Jack Matlock, U.S. Ambassador to the U.S.S.R. (1987-1991); Thomas Fazi, journalist; Anatol Lieven, Senior Fellow, Quincy Institute; Sir Anthony Brenton, British Ambassador to Russia (2004-2008); and two former members of the British Embassy in Moscow.
