(Analysts and people in the streets of Ukraine do not think much about Diplomacy. At least the manner it is turning out to be.
They all have an impression and not without good reasons that Diplomacy or so-called peace talks is far removed reality and their daily lives.)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy might have been trapped !
It is presumed that at his hyped meeting on Monday, Aug 18th, President Donald Trump may wish to convey to Zelenskyy to 'surrender' and 'handover' entire eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Both regions – known together as Donbas – are rich in minerals and industry. Hence, according to Ukranian leaders and historians -- to give away the region to Vladimir Putin after three years of war and killings of innocents on both sides now would be a "tragedy".
In return what is Ukraine likely to get? said the Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak.
The mere 'freezing' the rest of the front line.
The proposal has been mooted none other than the Russian President himself in his meeting with Trump in Alaska on August 15.
"This is Ukrainian territory," Ukranian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak said.
"And the people of these regions – particularly the miners – played a huge role in the strengthening of the Ukrainian identity."
At least 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled the Donbas since Russian aggression began in 2014.
More than three million are estimated to be living under Russian occupation. A further 300,000 are estimated to be in the parts where Ukraine still has control.
Ukranians say the region had also produced famous politicians, poets and dissidents.
Worse, the 'refugees' who left earlier will now not be able to return home if it becomes Russian.
In areas closest to the front line, life is already a dangerous struggle.
Andriy Borylo, a 55-year-old military chaplain in the badly hit city of Sloviansk, said in a phone interview (BBC) that shells had landed next to his house over the weekend.
"It is a very difficult situation here," he said. "There is a feeling of resignation and abandonment. I don't know how much we have the strength to endure. Someone has to protect us. But who?"
In March 2014, following the Euromaidan protest movement and the resulting Revolution of Dignity, large swaths of the Donbas became gripped by pro-Russian and anti-government unrest.
This unrest later grew into a war between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists affiliated with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics", who were supported by Russia as part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War.
The conflict split the Donbas into Ukrainian-held territory, constituting about two-thirds of the region, and separatist-held territory, constituting about one-third.
The region remained this way for years until Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. On 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of Donbas together with two other Ukrainian oblasts, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Notably, after meeting with Putin on Aug 15, Friday in Alaska, Donald Trump told European allies that the Russian president reiterated that he wants the key Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
This America believes will "open" to the possibility of ending the stalemate in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson along with a freeze along the front lines.
ends
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