give nothing away
No, it is not possible to negotiate with Putin. Mr. Coulon’s text demonstrates that in the case of Milosevic, NATO attacked, which it does not want to do with Putin’s Russia. So, negotiating with the latter means that we will have to give him something. And there, it will be an encouragement to attack Moldova, which Putin has started to do. We do not negotiate with a bum who will not respect his signature.
Norman Bourdon, Quebec
The only solution
You would really have to pinch your nose to negotiate with this bloodthirsty dictator. But perhaps this is the only solution to stop the deaths and the destruction.
Helen Bergeron
Send the right message
The image of a negotiation with Putin turns me upside down. What is the message the world wants to send to the Poutines of the future? Isn’t it: “Benefiting from an attack by a sovereign country will never be allowed”? Do we want this message to be clear, unequivocal? If so, then negotiation is out of the question. Do we so much doubt the strengthened capacity of the Ukrainians to defeat the Putinians? I hope not. Otherwise, all their sufferings and sacrifices will have been in vain. Not to mention the efforts of the allies. I keep my fingers crossed and I continue to hope.
Jacques Tremblay, Orleans, Ontario
Ukraine as a shield
I am part of the no side. Ceding gains to Putin will only encourage him to go further. Ukraine serves as a shield for several small nations less well equipped than it to fight against the invader. It is not for nothing that the European Union and the United States stand together with it. I remind you that they did nothing when Putin took Crimea in 2014 and we see the result.
Francine Fournier, Two Mountains
Save lives
Negotiations should have been accepted at the beginning of the conflict, which might have saved thousands of lives and avoided the destruction of Ukraine. Anyway, wars always end in negotiations.
Aldo Ghirotto, Laval
One day or another
You are right on an important point, it is with enemies that you have to negotiate, it is the flat reality. However, what negotiation is still possible today with a humiliated Putin, bogged down in a Ukraine he thought he could conquer in a few weeks, but which, a year later, is still resisting? The Americans had conquered Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in a few weeks, thus confirming their status as a military power. Russia remains far from the account in Ukraine. One day or another, we will have to negotiate, that’s for sure! In the meantime, we must resign ourselves to waiting for the parties to decide that the time has come and, unfortunately, it could still be a long time if both sides judge that we still have things to prove.
Vincent Cayouette
The terms of peace
I think the author is going after a scarecrow. Even President Zelensky no longer refuses a term agreement with the Czar of the Kremlin. On the contrary, all war ends at the long table. The question is not there, but rather in what balance of power will the belligerents present themselves and what will be the conditions of peace, this time lasting. Negotiate with Putin? Certainly, but at loggerheads.
Christophe Landarc
A matter of honor
You are consistent and always have the same approach: to make a pact with Putin unconditionally in the name of peace. There is only one honorable solution: defeat Putin, get him out of Ukraine and make him pay reparations for his war.
Gilles Bergeron
A pact with the devil
How can you enter into negotiations with a man who constantly lies, who only knows violence and who will break his word before the ink on his commitments is even dry? Any negotiation with this man would be nothing less than a pact with the devil.
Rene Rochon, Bromont