ISW: Any ‘truce’ or pause in the war will only benefit Ukraine

Any “truce” or pause in the war will only benefit Ukraine and allow Ukrainian forces to rest, refit, and relaunch offensive operations, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said, Report informs.

“One prominent critical milblogger claimed that a pause in the war will allow Ukraine to conduct a ‘Minsk-3,’ alluding to the previous Minsk agreements that temporarily paused large-scale combat operations in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 but ultimately allowed Russia to prepare for the full-scale invasion in 2022. The critical milblogger also observed that any discussions regarding pauses or negotiations in the war will be particularly harmful to Russia because Russia has failed to clearly define the war aims or conditions necessary for a Russian victory. The milblogger noted that the lack of a clear definition for victory has caused internal destabilization within Russia. Other Russian milbloggers noted that Ukraine still controls several territories that Russia has claimed to have (illegally) annexed, arguing that Russia should not see any negotiations until or unless Russia can capture the rest of the four occupied oblasts (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia oblasts), as well as Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts,” ISW said.