The longer we avoid peace talks in Ukraine the closer we come to Armageddon, writes PETER HITCHENS

We hate and despise Vladimir Putin’s invasion precisely because it has brought death, misery, flight and atrocities to innocent people. So why, a year later, do so many people seem so interested in making the Ukraine war deeper and longer?

If they hate the war, surely they want it to stop? There are no pretty wars. The more fighting there is, the more blood, screams and tragedy there will be. But I cannot think of a war in modern times in which so little effort has been made to achieve peace.

I think this is because many people have come to see war as simply a battle between good and evil. President Zelensky of the Ukraine is like the white wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. And President Putin of Russia is like the Dark Lord, Sauron. This leads them to think that nothing their side does can be wrong and that the other side has no case at all.

In fact, I think Mr. Zelensky has been very good in this battle and Putin has been very bad. But I can’t share this simple view of the conflict, and I suggest you don’t either.

I have a feeling that the British public is getting nervous and worried about where it may take them. And we would all benefit from a much more open debate. It is not healthy for any country to suppress disagreement. When the British establishment is fully united, it is almost always wrong.

The scenes of general adulation of Volodymyr Zelensky in Parliament last week reminded me of the last time the whole country agreed: the Covid panic. And most thinking people are beginning to learn that our response to the virus was a series of dangerous mistakes, damaging the economy, badly damaging the NHS, devastating education in schools and universities, causing a lot of needless personal misery and severely undermining the national work ethic. .

At that time, it was very difficult to oppose what was happening. Those who did were called ‘deniers’ and accused of callous disregard for life.

Now, if you have doubts about the Ukraine war, you will find yourself being falsely accused of being a supporter of Putin, or of being a war crimes ‘denier’.

Helping Ukraine fend off an anarchic attack was a simple matter. And the Russian offensive, incompetently led and poorly planned, was smashed and largely stopped very quickly.

But supplying highly offensive weapons, tanks, long-range missiles, maybe jet bombers, is different. If your neighbor is attacked, you come to his aid. But if you later want to do your own attack, you might not be so interested in joining.

And the aid that the West is now giving Ukraine can and probably will be used to attack, possibly Crimea, where there are a lot of Russians who don’t want to be ruled by Ukraine. Russia under attack, especially defending what it considers its rightful territory in the Crimea, will be a very different enemy from Russia engaged in a lawless invasion. I explained in The Mail on Sunday why I think this war is more complex than many think. NATO’s 30-year eastward expansion was a reckless mistake, undermining Russian democrats and liberals and strengthening Putin and his nationalist supporters.

I have shown that George Washington University in the US has files showing that it also reneged on promises clearly given to Moscow by top Western leaders.

I have pointed out that the war really started in 2014 when Ukraine’s democratically elected president was lawlessly overthrown by an armed mob, and the West, supposedly pro-law and pro-democratic, showed all the signs of approval.

I’ve noticed that even the American ultrahawk Robert Kagan admits that Russia was provoked (although, like you and me, he doesn’t think this justifies the invasion).

Yet the uninformed media and politicians incessantly tell us that it was “without provocation.”

Far from ‘denying’ Russian atrocities, I stress the fact that (as is terribly normal in war) bad things have been done by both sides.

That is why, when the United Nations reported on the treatment of prisoners of war last November, it said of the Ukrainians held by the Russians: “The vast majority of those interviewed told us that during their internment they were tortured and ill-treated.” And he said of Russian prisoners of war held by Ukraine: “We have received credible allegations of summary executions… and several cases of torture and ill-treatment, allegedly committed by members of the Ukrainian armed forces.”

This is just not Gandalf vs. Orcs. Ukraine is, in any case, a corrupt state, heavily dominated by billionaires, where speech and media are not so free. It’s not that different from Russia as its current fan club claims.

Furthermore, if this war has shown one thing, to us and to Moscow, it is that Russia’s conventional armed forces remain poorly trained, poorly equipped, dependent on low-level recruits and even on free criminals.

The idea that a negotiated peace will tempt Russia into another war is fanciful.

I view all these events as a British patriot. And I have to ask what Britain and her people will gain by continuing and deepening this war. I understand that some US politicians see Russia as an ever-present threat, although I think their hatred of Russia is absurd when Saudi Arabia is their ally and China a major trading partner. I know that attacking Russia is popular with US arms manufacturers and politicians hoping to please the many voters in the US, especially Polish Americans whose ancestors fled Russian tyranny long ago. and they still hate Moscow. I get it, but I don’t agree with him nor do I think he is wise.

Russia exists. As long as she exists, she will defend her borders and her neighborhood, exactly as the United States or Great Britain would in the same circumstances.

Imagine what would happen if a newly independent Scotland played host to Russian bases and troops, or if Mexico entered into a military alliance with China.

The traditional solution to such problems has been diplomacy, forging tough, lasting deals that leave both parties feeling reasonably secure.

Of course, that means give and take. Sometimes we can give more than we want. But is war, savage, ruthless, and appalling war, with its handmaids of poverty and relentless state control, so wonderful that we cannot even contemplate a negotiated peace?

The longer we leave it, the greater the risk of Armageddon and the more difficult the deal.

It’s time to talk.