Russia Warns Ukraine Cost for Peace Will Increase as War Drags On

Sergey Shoigu, the head of Russia’s Security Council, warned Tuesday that the longer the war in Ukraine goes on, the higher the cost will be for Ukraine to achieve peace.

“Each day it waits to make this decision [to settle the conflict] results in the loss of control over another part of the territories that Ukrainians claim to be theirs and, most importantly, the loss of thousands of lives,” Shoigu said, according to Tass.

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a public peace offer for a deal that would require Ukraine to be neutral, the lifting of Western sanctions, and Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the four regions annexed by Moscow: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

At the time, Putin warned if Ukraine rejected the proposal, the terms would change. Kyiv quickly rejected the offer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stuck to the demands of his “peace formula,” which requires Russia to withdraw from all the territory it has captured.

Zelensky previously ruled out peace talks with Moscow but appears to have softened his stance, as he has said Russia should attend the next international summit on the war that he’s planning to organize. The Kremlin has said it’s open to talks, but no concrete plans have been set.

Shoigu said Ukrainian leadership’s illusions “that the Europeans will hold another grand peace summit for Ukraine, where all its domestic problems will be miraculously resolved, are costing the Ukrainian people dearly.”

Shoigu added, “Ukraine’s window of opportunity is closing. The choice is up to the Ukrainian people.”

Throughout the war, the only time a real peace deal was on the table was back in March and April of 2022. But the US and NATO discouraged Ukraine from signing an agreement and promised to support its fight against Russia.