Law students and young lawyers in the Ukraine are sending dispatches to JURIST on the latest developments in that country as it defends itself from the Russian invasion. Here, Illia Fedin, a Kharkiv-based lawyer, comments on the Ukraine-Russia peace/ceasefire talks. The text has only been slightly edited to respect the author’s voice. While Ukrainian superheroes have continued to fight fierce Russian troops for more than a month, the country’s political leaders are trying to find a way to stop the battles as soon as possible. This path recently took them to Istanbul, Turkey, where negotiations between representatives of Ukraine and Russia took place on March 29. But “negotiations” is not at all the right word for what is happening. Just think of how the criminal law of Europe, the US, or other Western countries would characterize a person who tries to force another person to give him or her a piece of their property, while at the same time putting a gun to their mouth. head. This would definitely not be “negotiations”. But that’s what we have here. However, it appears that both sides have declared some progress. That’s a good sign, but it’s misleading. Russia’s actions speak louder than its words. We cannot see Russia’s commitment to the peace talks process. Military methods remain a priority, because the bombing of Ukrainian cities and towns continues. The Ukrainian side shows readiness to discuss sensitive issues such as the Crimean issue and the state of neutrality. The population of Ukraine also mainly supports what the government says in the negotiations. That is a huge point for our country, and such support can be decisive in this war (by the way, Ukrainians take offense when the war is called “conflict” or “crisis” or something like that; war is war, and other the names are just part of the Russian propaganda/disinformation). We can also see constructive engagements from Ukraine. You can continue talking when the Russian troops are where they were on February 23. This means that Crimea and the occupied part of Donbas are still under Russian control. Unpleasant, but this positio is necessary to stop the battles. The state of neutrality is not a problem at the moment, but Ukraine is looking for guarantees (and guarantors) of non-aggression from Russia. The ball is on the side of the European and American partners. Can they be participants in a possible peace treaty? Finally, we have to admit that these peace talks were the result of the courage of the Ukrainian soldiers and the coordinated acts of our Western partners. These components can provide a winnable situation for Ukraine, both in the process of peace talks and on the battlefield. So let us bring the victory of justice over tyranny closer. Correspondent’s note: This text was written before the withdrawal of the Russian occupiers from the kyiv region and photographs of Bucha. So it may not be fully applied now. At the same time, on April 4, V. Zelenskyy visited Bucha and saw with his own eyes the inhumane crimes committed by the Russians there. Responding to journalists’ questions about the possibility of continuing peace talks with Russia, Zelenskyy said: “Yes, because Ukraine has to be at peace. We are in the Europe of the 21st century. We will continue to make diplomatic and military efforts.”