Good morning,
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv last weekend in an attempt to revive peace talks, but they left with little to show for their efforts. After four and a half years of grueling war, it can be difficult to see why both Russia and Ukraine fight on. The Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk offered on-the-ground insight in a 2025 essay, explaining in vivid detail how the “reign of terror” that Russia has imposed on captured towns and villages has led many Ukrainians to believe a cease-fire could be “even more costly” than continued fighting. Because the threat of brutal Russian occupation looms so large, she argued, only under the right conditions would Ukraine “be able to consider a deal to end the war.”
Until next week, |
