(The liberation of Crimea and the Donbas) - '..a "Marshall Plan" for Ukrainian reconstruction..'

'Crimea is Ukraine. Donetsk is Ukraine. Kherson is Ukraine. Luhansk is Ukraine. Zaporizhzhia is Ukraine..'


'..It could be argued that Russia is doing its best to create a state of permanent conflict with its western neighbor through tactics such as bombing schools, kidnapping Ukrainian children, and dismantling critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, officials in Kyiv are actively preparing for the end of the conflict — and laying out the parameters for what an acceptable peace would look like.'

'Back in 1971, the Swiss American scholar Fred Ikle authored a slim volume on a relatively obscure topic: how nations should think about entering and exiting conflicts. The following decade, Ikle went on to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy in the Reagan administration. Meanwhile, his book "Every War Must End" turned into essential reading for policymakers because of its core premise — since war is a temporary condition, governments need to act accordingly during hostilities and create the necessary conditions for the peace that follows.

That guidance applies to the current war in Ukraine. It could be argued that Russia is doing its best to create a state of permanent conflict with its western neighbor through tactics such as bombing schools, kidnapping Ukrainian children, and dismantling critical infrastructure. Nevertheless, officials in Kyiv are actively preparing for the end of the conflict — and laying out the parameters for what an acceptable peace would look like.

..

Reconstruction. Some 10 months of war have witnessed the destruction of Ukraine's population centers and infrastructure on a massive scale, and their rebuilding is a prerequisite for the country to return to normal. The likely price of such an effort, however, is formidable, now estimated at $1 trillion or more. It's for this reason that European nations have increasingly begun to call for a "Marshall Plan" for Ukrainian reconstruction — and for Western nations to begin serious planning of post-conflict aid. While it's still too early to envision what form such an effort might ultimately take, it is already possible to identify a key element of it. If Western nations want to decisively shape Ukraine's geopolitical outlook, they need to make it an active partner in its rebuilding (rather than simply a passive recipient of aid). And Ukrainian officials need to avoid giving China a major stake in postwar reconstruction or risk running afoul of Washington against the backdrop of intensifying U.S.-Chinese "great power competition."

Reparations. In Ukraine today, there's a near-unanimous consensus that Moscow needs to pay restitution for its unprovoked aggression. Notably, the international community concurs; in mid-November, the U.N. General Assembly passed a landmark resolution calling for Russia to pay reparations. Exactly how much that should be, however, is a matter of some dispute. Ukrainian officials have estimated the damage caused by Russia's aggression at upward of $750 billion. Kyiv, however, has indicated that it plans to seek a significantly more modest sum, just $300 billion, as compensation. That figure isn't coincidental; it roughly corresponds with the estimated total of the Russian foreign exchange reserves held in Western countries that have been frozen in response to the Kremlin's war of choice. In effect, then, Kyiv is asking Western nations to give it those Russian assets to compensate it for wartime hardship and simultaneously impose steep added costs on Moscow.'

- Ilan Berman, What Ukraine Needs To End The War, December 20, 2022



Context (The Elders) - Russia's war on Ukraine is a moral outrage

It's Time For The West To Cultivate An Alternative Information Ecosystem In Russia, December 22, 2022

(The liberation of Crimea and the Donbas) - '..what Ukraine needs to prepare to ‘end the war’. A relatively small number of more tanks..'

(The liberation of Crimea and the Donbas) - 'Budanov hopes the war will end in the spring and be concluded by the summer [in 2023]'


(Complete withdrawal from Ukraine (Crimea and the Donbas)) - '[Ukraine has] more manpower overall .. one million [soldiers] .. but we still lack armored vehicles and heavy weapons..'

Complete withdrawal from Ukraine (Crimea and the Donbas)) - 'If Ukraine succeeds in receiving the appropriate weapons, operational and strategic prospects for 2023 will look totally different..'

(The liberation of Crimea and the Donbas) - 'The Siege of Crimea has begun.'