There is "no reasonable expectation" that Russia is coming to the bargaining table with "anything reasonable" that could bring peace with Ukraine, James Gilmore, former ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told Newsmax on Tuesday.
"The Russians have never deviated from their goals," Gilmore, also a former governor of Virginia, said on Newsmax's "National Report." "Their demands remain the same. They want to reduce all of Ukraine into being a vassal state of Russia, which Ukraine adamantly will not do."
Russia is demanding that sanctions against it be ended and that Ukraine give up its sovereign ability to join NATO, leaving no expectations that their appearance at a bargaining table would be anything more than a "show thing," he added.
"We shouldn't expect there to be a resolution of this issue until the Russians decide they can't win, which they can't win," said Gilmore. "I'm not sure they can continue the war basically either because of the damage that's being done to their country."
Gilmore's comments come after reports from Ukraine that it hit the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula with an underwater explosives strike.
And on Sunday, Ukraine launched drones through its "Spider's Web" attack on Russian nuclear-capable long-range bomber planes.
"Things are moving pretty fast," said Gilmore, adding that the attack on the Crimean bridge was inevitable.
"The Ukrainians are signaling that they're not going to quit," he said. "The Russians are counting on winning at the bargaining table, which they can't win on the battlefield. They want the international community to basically force Ukraine to quit by stopping any support for them with arms or intelligence or that kind of support. So far, that has not occurred."
Ukraine also knows that if it surrenders, it will become a territory of Russia, Gilmore added.
"The Ukrainians are being asked to give up territory that dramatically changes the rules of the 21st century, if it stands, and I think that they should not be forced to do that, I would counsel the president to that effect if he decides to reengage," he said.
Meanwhile, the Russians did not think Ukraine had the capacity to attack its planes, but Gilmore stressed that it was Russia, not Ukraine, that started the war.
"I refuse to grant them the legitimacy of saying that they are the injured party," he said. "The Ukrainians have the right to defend themselves … I think the Europeans are stepping up to the plate, too. But at the end of the day, Russia has to stop its aggression. That's really what this war is about. It's about Russian aggression. We know now exactly what they're doing, and they've got to stop and go back home, withdraw from Ukraine and build their country, which they're not doing right now."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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