Some Americans might be skeptical of Ukraine's willingness to make peace — along with "useful idiots" like billionaire Elon Musk — but making peace with an aggressor like Vladimir Putin is ostensibly a fool's errand, according to Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
"Please do not be fooled: An aggressor cannot be a peacemaker," Yermak wrote Thursday in The Washington Post.
"To give Russia what it wants would show that the West has not learned the lessons from this war."
Ukraine did not ask for this war, cannot allow Putin to claim almost 18% of its country and will not relent to the "useful idiots in the West" who think Ukraine should bow for peace, he wrote.
"The Kremlin is ready to resort to nuclear blackmail while its useful idiots in the West mount louder and louder calls for peace," the opinion piece read.
"Unfortunately, some seem to have heard its voice. Former and current politicians and influential business executives call for negotiations with the Kremlin. For the sake of peace. For the sake of the world. For the sake of humanity. But not for the sake of Ukraine. Nor for the sake of justice."
Yermak noted Ukraine has not been defending itself against Putin and Russian aggressions for months, but years, if not decades.
"Since 2014, when Russia seized Crimea, we have heard calls for peaceful reconciliation," Yermak wrote. "We have heard calls for diplomacy, as if we started this war. We are told that it is time to stop the bloodshed, as if we were the ones who want to fight.
"We are advised to prioritize the interests of humanity, as if we are threatening the world with a nuclear apocalypse."
Those who are calling for Ukraine to settle on peace against Putin are doomed to be victimized by him, Yermak added.
"Since the war began in February, the narrative has morphed from 'Ukraine must disappear so that Russia can calm down' to 'Ukraine must surrender so that Europe can stay warm,'" Yermak continued. "Now the narrative has become 'Ukraine must stop liberating its territories to prevent a new world war.'
"Russia's enablers should ask voters whether they can appease a regime that has perpetrated the most grievous act of state terrorism since the Second World War. Russia has launched thousands of cruise and ballistic missiles at peaceful cities (and 100 in just one of the recent daily attacks) — just as the Nazis did. Can civil societies in the West accept a regime that considers apartment buildings, museums and playgrounds legitimate targets?
"Russia is flattening Ukrainian cities and destroying critical infrastructure, including dams and power plants. Against this background, the Kremlin is calling on the West to broker a deal to establish a new normal."
Russia's narrative bending has those calling for peace willing to succumb to its blackmail, Yermak added.
"Ukraine will not succumb to peace by coercion," Yermak wrote. "Ukraine needs clear guarantees that when Russia leaves the illegally occupied territories, it will never return. We believe any deal should start with respect for our right to self-determination, the inviolability of our sovereignty and the integrity of our borders.
"Without it, European security will always depend on the whims of whoever happens to reside in the Kremlin."
Yermak reiterated his country's call to join NATO and for security guarantees in the future against Russian aggression.
"We must ensure that the price of aggression will be too high for Russia," Yermak concluded. "This should become the starting point for a new 'great deal' on the part of the West.
"Any other stance would mean an inevitable return to the world of illusions conjured up by the Kremlin."
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