Calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine could be a cynical trap that freezes the conflict, allowing Russia to refit and re-attack
“At the current stage of the war in Ukraine, calls for a ceasefire could be dangerous and potentially have the effect of freezing in place the conflict, allowing Russia to consolidate the gains that it’s made,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
According to Blinken, Russia could use that time to rest and refit and then re-attack.
“And so what seems to be appealing on the surface – who wouldn’t want the guns to be silent – can also be a very cynical trap that we have to be very, very careful of,” Blinken stressed. “No one wants peace more than the Ukrainian people because they’re the ones who are suffering directly from its absence and from this aggression. But it has to be just and it has to be durable; otherwise, it’s ultimately for naught.”
