She participated in the evening’s agenda together with Magnus Christiansson, lecturer in military science at the Norwegian Defense Academy. They have both noted the recent signals from world leaders and high-ranking militaries that the war will end at the negotiating table.
– The French President Macron talks about the purpose of an upcoming Ukrainian offensive is that it should lead to negotiations and the US Defense Chief Mark Milley also mentions that this will end as a negotiated solution. And at the security conference in Munich, there have been some discussions about negotiations, says Christiansson.
“Several risk factors”
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Frida Stranne has called for diplomacy:
– In this war, we have several risk factors, such as the world economy, food security, the climate issue and, not least, nuclear weapons. It gives us a lot of incentives to push for negotiations.
– There are signals coming from Washington that the prospects for Ukraine winning the war are getting smaller and smaller and this requires a new approach.
She also highlights the fact that the current president of the United States is favorably disposed to continued support for Ukraine, but from the Republican side, the tone sounds different. In the event of a change of power in 2024, Ukraine cannot expect the same support.
Good negotiating position
Stranne believes instead that the West’s united front and support for Ukraine, whose military has given Russia fierce resistance, created an advantageous negotiating position.
– That puts them in a very good situation.
And reasoning in terms of Ukraine winning the war on the battlefield is complicated, according to Magnus Christiansson. He thinks it is better to start from Ukraine’s goals of taking back its territory, receiving financial compensation from Russia and putting war criminals in prison.
– I don’t think anyone in the West is pushing the demand that Ukraine should be forced to give up any of it. Instead, they will continue to give Ukraine the opportunity to choose when a negotiating situation is best for them.