Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine starting Saturday, which is a "positive sign," but "both sides have to demonstrate they are interested in moving toward negotiations," said retired Col. John Mills.
"This is called 'peacemaking.' It's not peacekeeping. This is peacemaking 101. And both sides have to want to stop fighting," Mills told Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda."
"And this is essentially the largest attempt to settle a war in progress with troops in contact since essentially the Korean War. It's always going to be challenging, but both sides have to want to stop," he added.
On the demand by Putin that the United States must recognize the Ukrainian region of Crimea as being under Russia's control as part of a broader peace agreement, Mills told Newsmax the issue is a "challenging one."
"You could get three experts in the room to debate this academically, and you'll come up with seven positions on this topic. There's a lot of pros and cons," he said.
"Let's just be honest. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, yes, technically that was Ukrainian territory.
"However, there was a wink and nod. And there was a lot and a very large Russian population, including a lot of retired generals and admirals that did not want to give up their summer homes plus Russian bases," Mills said.
"So this has been a very an unsettled situation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Russians have this emotional bond to Crimea back to the great game with the Western powers in the 1800s.
"So this is a very challenging one," he said.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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