• Kissinger doesn’t understand the war or its impact on the world order.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced suggestions that Ukraine cede territory to Russia to secure peace.
• Kissinger backed the allied military effort to stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government called Henry Kissinger’s calls for a negotiated peace with Russia “appeasing the aggressor.”

Kissinger, architect of the Cold War policy of detente towards the Soviet Union under Nixon and Ford, made the proposal in the Spectator.

Kissinger backed the allied military effort to stop Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

“But the time is approaching to build on the strategic changes that have already been accomplished,” he wrote.

Some want a war-weakened Russia. Kissinger disagreed.

Despite its violence, Russia has contributed to global balance and power for over 500 years. Its historical significance shouldn’t be diminished. Russia’s military setbacks haven’t eliminated its global nuclear reach, he added.

Kissinger, who has met Vladimir Putin multiple times, proposed at the World Economic Forum in Davos in May that Ukraine let Russia keep Crimea and that Russia withdraw to the front lines before its 2022 invasion.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said on Telegram that Kissinger doesn’t understand the war or its impact on the world order.

“The prescription that the ex-Secretary of State calls for, but is afraid to say out loud, is simple: appease the aggressor by sacrificing parts of Ukraine with non-aggression guarantees,” he said.

Ukraine says it doesn’t believe Putin, who has said he’s ready for a long war in Ukraine, is serious about peace and that there can be no peace until every Russian soldier leaves its territory, including Crimea.

Podolyak added, “All supporters of simple solutions should remember the obvious: any agreement with the devil will be a victory for Putin and a recipe for success for autocrats around the world.”

Sunday night, Kremlin officials couldn’t comment.

In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced suggestions that Ukraine cede territory to Russia to secure peace, comparing it to Nazi Germany’s appeasement.

“Great geopoliticians” who suggest this disregard the interests of Ukrainians, “the millions who live on the territory they propose exchanging for an illusion of peace,” Zelenskyy said.

“Whatever the Russian state does, someone will always say ‘consider its interests,'” Zelenskyy said.

CIA Director William Burns said in a Saturday interview that while most conflicts end in negotiation, Russia isn’t serious about ending the war.

‘The time is approaching to build on the strategic changes which have already been accomplished and to integrate them into a new structure towards achieving peace through negotiation.’

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✍️ Henry Kissinger https://www.bolnews.com/world/2022/12/kyiv-criticizes-henry-kissinger-for-urging-peace-talks-with-russia/amp/

— The Spectator (@spectator) December 18, 2022

⚡️Zelensky aide rebuffs Kissinger’s proposal for negotiated peace with Russia.

Kyiv dismissed former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s suggestion that the time is approaching to achieve peace through negotiation with Russia, saying his proposal “appeases the aggressor.”

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— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) December 19, 2022

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