Russia will not succeed in forcing Ukraine’s capitulation through deception. The only path to genuine peace is stopping Russian forces along the front line so that Moscow is compelled to offer real terms, rather than a “Trojan horse” disguised as negotiations, says Andrii Biletskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Third Army Corps, as per Ukrainska Pravda.
US-initiated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have continued for more than a year. During this time, Moscow has launched ballistic strikes against Ukraine on a daily basis. Civilian casualties from Russian strikes have increased by 31%.
The talks have not led to a halt in hostilities. On the contrary, the Kremlin’s latest statements indicate that Moscow intends to continue pursuing its objectives in Ukraine, meaning the war will go on.
His remarks were made on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
"If we give up Donbas today, will they force us to give up Kharkiv and Odesa tomorrow?"
He recalled that four years ago, Russia claimed it would take Kyiv in three days. Four years on, Russia has failed to fully occupy any Ukrainian region. The country held out not only because of external support, but because hundreds of thousands of people made a conscious choice to fight.
Biletskyi said Ukraine needs a real peace that preserves sovereignty and the capacity to defend itself in the future. This rules out ceding Ukrainian territories in exchange for a “fake peace” — Russia would use any pause to regroup and rewrite the narrative of its failed aggression.
“If today we abandon Ukrainian land and our people in Donbas, what guarantees are there that tomorrow we won’t be forced to abandon Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, or Kherson under the threat of renewed war?” he stated.
“Kyiv in three days” failed: the nation’s choice to fight broke the Kremlin’s plans
Biletskyi stressed that the main peacekeeper is the Ukrainian soldier on the front line, and that the only road to genuine peace is to stop the Russian forces along the line of contact.
“Russia failed to take Kyiv in three days. It failed to break Ukraine in four years. And it will not succeed in chewing out our capitulation through deception,” he said.
He added that Ukraine has endured because the nation chose to fight. Recalling the battles in Kyiv Oblast in March 2022, he said Russian forces were driven back in retreat, abandoning bodies, vehicles, and equipment.
Attempting to trade away at the negotiating table what has been won through sacrifice and resistance, he warned, would lead to a deep moral rupture.
