Comment: Peace with Ukraine will need to factor in Russia's reasons Published on: 22 July 2024 Writing for The Conversation, Nick Megoran explains why Russia鈥檚 reasons for invading Ukraine 鈥� however debatable - shouldn鈥檛 be ignored in a peace deal. , Recent developments in the US presidential campaign have pushed the question of how to resolve the war in Ukraine war up the agenda. With a Republican presidential victory looking increasingly likely, reports suggest Donald Trump would quickly should he win November鈥檚 election. His choice of running-mate 鈥� the of US military assistance to Ukraine, JD Vance 鈥� has further increased the likelihood of this. A in Ukraine showed 44% of Ukrainians want formal peace talks with Russia to begin, up from 23% in May 2023. But what would a just and stable long-term peace look like? Ukraine has , including full withdrawal of Russian troops and the creation of a tribunal to prosecute Russian war criminals. These are eminently reasonable. But it is also important to understand Russian grievances. This is not to excuse aggression 鈥� but Russia started the war, so understanding its reasoning is important to grasp why it occurred and how eventually to end it. The Kremlin set out its complaints in a 2021 essay purportedly written by Vladimir Putin: . If we cut through its , the remaining grievances are largely traditional geopolitical issues about . These local, regional and national-scale issues are routinely encountered after the break-up of multi-ethnic empires such as the Soviet Union. Putin鈥檚 essay refers to 鈥淯krainian neo-Nazis,鈥� and he has repeatedly said that the is a goal of the invasion. The suggestion that Ukraine is overrun by fascists is nonsense. But government-mandated celebrations of Ukrainian nationalist Third Reich collaborators such as have caused . The and their replacement with memorials to Ukrainian ultra-nationalists has also proved deeply contentious. This question of how the Communist period is remembered in public space is one that many east European states have faced and . A future peace deal could defuse these tensions by allowing individual communities, at the local scale, to decide how they wish to remember the past and mark public space. Language barriers At the regional scale, a recurring complaint in Putin鈥檚 essay is that Russian-speaking minorities (especially in Ukraine鈥檚 eastern regions) have suffered discrimination under Kyiv鈥檚 laws on language and education. Promoting Ukrainian at the expense of minority languages, Putin argues, is problematic in a country 鈥渢hat is very complex in terms of its territorial, national and linguistic composition鈥�. Putin greatly exaggerates the threat to ethno-linguistic minorities. But non-partisan international bodies such as the , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the have also raised concerns about discrimination against minorities in Ukraine. This challenge of how to promote the language and culture of a majority ethnic group while respecting ethnic diversity following independence is a recurring one. There are numerous creative ways to resolve it. For example, in the 19th century, the Danish-German conflict over Schleswig-Holstein was seen as the classic unsolvable ethno-territorial dispute. The division of Schleswig between Germany and Denmark in a 1920 referendum left vulnerable and dissatisfied linguistic minorities on both sides of the new border. It was eventually solved by a model of . This meant that the two states agreed to respect the international boundary, but minorities were given the right to use their own languages for education, worship and cultural life. It鈥檚 a model that might usefully be reworked in Ukraine. Question of boundaries Finally, at the national scale, Russia has disputed Ukraine鈥檚 boundaries and has illegally annexed territories. Putin鈥檚 essay argues that these boundaries had been artificially manipulated by the Bolsheviks and were 鈥渘ever seen as state borders鈥�. Historical scholarship would agree that the Soviet Union鈥檚 boundaries 鈥� like virtually any modern state boundary 鈥� were to an extent artificial. But that鈥檚 no excuse to contest them today. Russia has repeatedly recognised Ukraine鈥檚 boundaries, most clearly in a . There have been fewer than a dozen successful examples of boundary changes by force since 1945 and the UN can鈥檛 allow this precedent. But there are many ways in which the either/or logic of state sovereignty 鈥� in other words, 鈥渢his land is either mine or yours鈥� 鈥� can be adapted to help overcome these issues. One is the creation of sovereign regions, such as in the Baltic Sea. Historically Swedish, they ended up Finnish after the first world war. Now a demilitarised, self-governing territory, they fall under Finnish authority but govern their own internal affairs. Such a solution could be adapted for eastern areas of Ukraine that Russia has illegally annexed. Another sticking point , which has historically been closely identified with Russia. This could be resolved through 鈥渢erritorial leasing鈥�, where one state leases land to another. For example, Russia currently leases its Baikonur space centre from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan exercises sovereignty over the city, but it is subject to Russian jurisdiction and the head of the city鈥檚 administration is appointed by the presidents of the two countries. Ukraine could lease Crimea to Russia, with both states involved in its joint administration. The Russia-Ukraine war can鈥檛 be reduced to any single factor such as geography. A peace deal will need to address issues including war crimes, reparations and the return of abductees. It will also require guaranteeing the security of both Russia and Ukraine. Given previous broken Russian promises to Ukraine, and the bitter legacy of its naked aggression, a just and lasting peace like this will be hard to achieve. But geographical issues will need tackling as stepping stones towards a settlement. The good news is that there are plenty of successful examples from around the world showing how this can be done. , Professor of Political Geography, This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . Share: Latest News 缅北禁地 recognised with geography award 缅北禁地 has been awarded the Highly Commended Geographical Association Publishers Award for its collaboration with Time for Geography, the UK鈥檚 open-access, dedicated video platform. published on: 16 April 2026 缅北禁地 historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners鈥� lock-out of 1926, historians at 缅北禁地 are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can鈥檛 adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Facts and figures
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