U.N. to explore possibility of humanitarian truce in Ukraine.

The crisis between Russia and Ukraine has been taking place for nearly a month now. Russia still appears to be continuing with its current plan to invade the country, despite numerous attempts by the Ukrainian military to stop Russian advances. These advances have been relatively successful, as the Russian army still occupies the bordering regions. Since the very beginning of the Russian invasion, there have been attempts from all sides to reach some sort of a peace agreement, but none have succeeded thus far.

In early March, there were reports that Israel had taken on the part of mediating peace between Russia and Ukraine. This did come as a surprise to many, but Israel’s position as an ally with both the West, notably the United States and Russia, might have made it a viable candidate for brokering a truce. Unfortunately, this did not pan out, and both sides have since fought for another month.

However, recently, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Gueterres, is reportedly attempting to contact both the Russians and the Ukrainians in hopes of making a truce. While the U.N. does not have much bargaining power, as it lacks a military and an economy, it does play an essential role on the global stage. Still, achieving peace will be difficult without a country vouching for both sides.

Turkey has, in the past few days, emerged as the new location for peace talks. While there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached in the near future, it does seem as though the negotiations have become more successful.

This war has now been unfolding for nearly two months, and casualties from both sides have increased significantly, with the official statistics reporting that there have now been 23,000 deaths on both the Russian and the Ukrainian sides. Aside from deaths, millions of people have been displaced both domestically and internationally. Currently, there are more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees in Poland, with many more spread throughout Europe. The Biden Administration has promised to accept 100,000 Ukrainians, which will hopefully reduce the current pressure on the surrounding European countries.

With Russia’s pledge to reduce its military presence around Kyiv, and the Kremlin’s decision to leave Western Ukraine untouched, there is hope that the two sides will soon come to a truce. Apart from the humanitarian costs of the war, this war has had catastrophic economic consequences on the world stage, especially on Eastern Europe. There really is no way out except a humanitarian truce.  

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