OPINION: What Ukrainians Will Settle For
Survivors of brutality tend to want the same things. Their suffering needs to be recognized. They demand safety – guarantees that the violence will not recur. They yearn for justice: for the perpetrators to be held accountable. Above all, they seek agency – to be heard, to shape the path to recovery, and to ensure their ordeal is neither forgotten nor repeated.
Ukraine is no exception.
Since 2014 – and especially following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 – Ukrainians have endured a campaign of systematic barbarity marked by crimes against humanity and acts rightly identified as genocidal. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin confederates launched an unprovoked war aimed at erasing Ukraine from the maps of this world. Their plan has failed. Utterly.
Any genuine peace process must begin with truth-telling. Russia should admit that it started an unjustifiable war in direct violation of international law and the UN Charter. This testimony needs to be accompanied by a formal apology and a concrete plan for restitution.
Any genuine peace process must begin with truth-telling. Russia should admit that it started an unjustifiable war in direct violation of international law and the UN Charter.
Reparations
Russia has to compensate Ukraine for the enormous human, economic, and environmental toll of its warmongering. The destruction of cities and the displacement of millions of people have etched trauma deeply into Ukrainian society. These are not abstract losses – they are quantifiable. Estimates place war-related damages at nearly $1 trillion, a cost Russia must address through obligatory reparations.
Russia must also immediately return all abducted Ukrainian children – forcibly taken to Russian territory, institutionalized, or illegally adopted. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants in connection with these acts, recognized as war crimes. There can be no settlement while stolen children remain in the hands of the aggressor.
And looted Ukrainian artifacts must be returned. Ukraine’s history is unique and not “Russian” – cultural rapine cannot be rewarded.
Justice demands accountability. Those responsible for planning, enabling, and perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity – whether soldiers, commanders, political officials, propagandists, or bureaucrats – must face prosecution. The establishment of an impartial international tribunal, modelled on the Nuremberg Trials, is essential. The punishments should fit the crimes.
Ukraine’s territorial integrity remains non-negotiable. Any lasting peace is impossible while any part of Ukraine remains under illegal Russian occupation. Crimea, Donbas, and all territories seized since 2014 must be returned, in alignment with Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders as they stood in 1991.
As for the toilets stolen by the Russian marauders, Kyiv will allow Moscow’s henchmen to keep that booty – a daily reminder of their grubby defeat.
A secure future
Yet peace is not only about what has happened – it is about securing the future. Russia must explicitly and irrevocably affirm Ukraine’s right to pursue EU and NATO membership, and to determine its own security arrangements.
If Ukraine chooses to host foreign troops on its soil – whether US, Canadian, European, or otherwise – that is Kyiv’s prerogative, whether it pleases Putin or not. Should Ukraine decide to enhance its defense capabilities, including the development of deterrent nuclear weapons, it is entitled to do so without Russian interference. Sovereignty is not conditional.
Yet peace is not only about what has happened – it is about securing the future.
The Russian people, too, must confront the truth. The international community should support initiatives – led by institutions like UNESCO – to dismantle the propaganda apparatus that nurtured Russia’s war of aggression. Educational and cultural programs must detail what was done to Ukraine in Russia’s name, just as post-war Germany undertook its protracted and unpleasant reckoning with the legacy of Nazism. Not every Russian has been a fiend, but Russia’s guilt is collective – their time for atonement has come.
These are not radical demands. The fundamental requirements for any just peace are clear: full accountability, complete withdrawal, and meaningful restitution. The folly of appeasement should not be a lesson we have to relearn in this century. Pandering to Putin is not the pathway to peace.
Ukraine has not merely survived – it has stood resolute, defending its sovereignty and the foundational values of Western civilization: self-determination, the rule of law, democratic governance, and human dignity. In resisting Russian imperialism, Ukraine has defended Europe and the rules-based international order. The sacrifices Ukrainians have made demand more than token or equivocal gestures of support. Ukraine deserves a peace that is concrete, enforceable, and abiding.
A meme that has circulated widely shows Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, voicing his country’s defiance, starkly: “Here’s a peace plan – get the fuck out of our country!” Behind the dark humor lies a profound truth: justice is the only way to peace. Ukraine isn’t out for vengeance but seeks only what every victim of violence needs to heal – truth, accountability, dignity, and freedom from fear. These are reasonable and urgent asks. They must be met, for Ukrainians will not, truly cannot, settle for anything less.
Lubomyr Luciuk is Professor Emeritus of The Royal Military College of Canada and a Senior Research Fellow of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He was declared a persona non grata by the Russian Federation on April 28, 2022.
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.