Ukraine needs to start negotiating with Russia "everywhere possible," including discussing abandoning NATO membership, lifting sanctions, issues related to the Russian language, the church, and, in the long term, the status of Donbas.

This post was written by MP Oleksiy Goncharenko in the context of recent shelling of Kyiv and bridges across the Dnipro River.

According to his assessment, the current strategy of Kyiv does not correspond to the situation on the front lines and in the economy, and the terms of possible agreements are only getting worse for Ukraine over time.

"The reality is this: we are losing the war; we are losing a huge number of people; we do not have our own money, not just to pay for the war, but even to keep the country functioning; we are losing businesses and the economy. And, indeed, every time the conditions we receive are worse than the previous ones."

According to him, the attacks on energy facilities, enterprises, warehouses, data centers, and infrastructure demonstrate the scale of the problems that are approaching. At the same time, he called the government's focus on creating new weapons a search for a "Wunderwaffe" - a "miracle weapon" that is supposedly supposed to solve all problems.

"It's great if we make our own ballistic missiles. But how will this change the battlefield if the Russians have their own ballistic missiles throughout the war, and we are not surrendering? It's great if we find a way to counter kamikaze drones, but they will create new ones. And so on and so forth," the MP writes.

Goncharenko believes that instead of waiting for a sharp change in the situation, Ukraine should try to achieve peace and improve its position through negotiations.

One of the possible items of the deal, he proposes, is sanctions against Russia. As Goncharenko writes, Moscow is interested in lifting restrictions on Russian energy carriers and restoring trade in oil and gas, and Western countries will eventually ease the sanctions.

"If the sanctions against Russia will be lifted anyway, then maybe we shouldn't be foolish and try to take advantage of this?" he writes.

In this regard, Goncharenko proposes that Ukraine itself advocate for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for a cessation of long-range strikes, the unblocking of the Black Sea, and a restriction of combat operations in the Donbas region. "We will preserve the economy - at least some of it; we will preserve our cities - Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro; we will preserve the lives of many people; we will stop the outflow of people," the MP believes.

At the same time, he proposes not waiting for the opportunity to conclude a single comprehensive agreement to end the war, but to move through individual agreements.

"Negotiate EVERYWHERE possible. We cannot negotiate an end to the war all at once. Let's negotiate about everything in the world. Let's agree to stop the attacks on ports. Let's agree to stop the attacks on enterprises. Let's agree to stop the attacks on schools. On everything," Goncharenko wrote.

In his opinion, if such limited agreements are fulfilled by both sides, it will gradually be possible to move towards broader agreements and, ultimately, to peace.

Separately, Goncharenko proposes that Kyiv send Moscow a signal about its readiness to discuss a neutral status for Ukraine.

"Are they taking us into NATO? If we are taken into NATO, will NATO help us in the event of a war? You and I both know the answer to these questions."

In his opinion, Ukraine could abandon its course towards NATO membership.

"Let's hint that we are ready to talk about neutrality. The terms can be negotiated. We will continue to cooperate with NATO as we do now. We will create a common European budget to finance our army. We will engage in rearmament. But we need to talk," Goncharenko writes.

"To die as a whole country in order to become a member of NATO is, in my opinion, absurd," he added.

Goncharenko also proposes discussing with Russia issues related to the Russian language, the church, and historical memory.

@americanmajority