The question, therefore, is why almost no one in our country over the three following years has been willing to back negotiations to end the war, despite increasing recognition that Ukraine could not prevail at the existing level of military and economic support.
The continuing official British position, echoed by all the main media, has been “no peace without a Ukraine victory” – meaning, centrally, the expulsion of Russia from all territories seized since 2014.
Logically, this should have led to a search by Ukraine’s supporters for a compromise peace before Ukraine’s position significantly worsened.
It is even alleged that Britain’s then prime minister, Boris Johnson, scuppered a provisional peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in early April 2022.
It recognised that Ukraine could not resist the Russian attack indefinitely, but at the same time ruled out both peace negotiations and Nato military intervention.
