American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published an article titled on the Substack platform. “The problem of Ukrainian refugees”. In it, he claims that a number of European countries have called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “find a way to end the war” over the influx of refugees.
“The group is led by Poland <…>secretly urging Zelensky to find a way to end the conflict – even if that means retreating,” Hersh writes.
He claims that the group includes the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, including Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
According to Hersh, Zelenskiy disagrees and “is beginning to lose the support of his neighbors.” The journalist claims to have received information “from compromised data known to the US Central Intelligence Agency,” but did not specify what materials it was from.
The journalist points out that one of the main reasons why European countries want an early end to hostilities is “more than five million Ukrainians” accepted by states neighboring Ukraine.
“The regional refugee crisis will not be resolved until a peace agreement is reached,” Hersh writes.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 20,922,328 Ukrainians have arrived in neighboring countries since the start of the conflict. At the same time, 12,272,076 people crossed the border in the opposite direction.
“Those responsible for today’s war – Moscow, Kiev and Washington – are not even interested in negotiations for a temporary ceasefire … Now we are talking only about the possibility of an attack by one of the parties in the late spring or summer,” the journalist said. sign.
At the same time, according to him, “on the initiative of the authorities from Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia and Latvia … something else is being prepared.”
Peace plan in case of Ukrainian victory
In April, Hersh said the U.S. military leadership had drawn up a peace plan in case Russia was defeated in the conflict in Ukraine.
“I learned two months ago that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had instructed members of the headquarters to draft an agreement to end the war to the Russian Federation after their defeat in Ukraine,” Hersh wrote.
He also claimed that according to his sources, Ukraine was in a difficult situation and the duration of the conflict depended solely on how many Ukrainians were willing to sacrifice the country’s authorities. According to him, hostilities continue due to the fact that US President Joe Biden “decided to win in Ukraine.”
The journalist also wrote in his blog that due to the fact that some of the materials of the special services did not reach the president, Biden received incomplete intelligence data on the course of hostilities in Ukraine.
“It has been said that some of the best intelligence on the war has not reached the president, and it is not the fault of those who make often contradictory assessments,” Hersh said.
He said Biden “relied on briefings and other materials” prepared by Avril Haynes, the head of US National Intelligence.
Attack or peace talks
In February, Bild newspaper wrote, citing sources in the German and US governments, that if Ukrainian forces did not achieve meaningful success by the fall of 2023, the Allies would press Ukraine to force peace talks with Russia.
“With the help of new weapons, they want to give Ukraine a chance to recapture more occupied territories by autumn. If counterattacks fail, the pressure on Kiev to negotiate with the Kremlin will intensify.
Ukraine insists on following the “peace formula” proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Crimea ensures the withdrawal of Russian troops, including the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Kiev also announces its intention to reach the 1991 borders.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, described the calls for peace as “open cynicism towards the many victims of Russian aggression”, while Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk said Ukrainians reject such “tinsel”.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the peace plan to end the conflict should take into account “today’s realities with the entry of four new regions into Russia”.