I think it’s urgent that the current negotiations end the war in Ukraine soon, even if Ukraine has to make some territorial concessions and stay out of NATO. If we keep helping Ukraine escalate — such as its recent drone attacks on Russian bases housing nuclear-armed strategic bombers, and last year’s attack on Russia’s early-warning radars that damaged three out of a total of 10 — it will only bring even more suffering and devastation to Ukraine, while risking an unimaginably worse WWIII/nuclear war with Russia.

Another very dangerous recent development was German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s decision to give Ukraine Taurus missiles which can reach Moscow from Ukraine, and allow Ukraine to use them with no range limits as there are currently. Such missiles would also be mostly operated and targeted by German military personnel, with American help using our satellite guidance systems. 

This would cross a very big red line for Russia, and could easily be the tripwire provoking a Russian attack on the missiles in Ukraine, the NATO soldiers operating them, or on a German or NATO base in Europe. Then we’re off to the races — my attempt at dark humor that masks my growing alarm about nuclear war and the end of human civilization if not the planet itself. 

No matter how much anyone hates President Vladimir Putin of Russia and opposes his policies, this geopolitical game of nuclear chicken must stop before it spins out of control accidentally or intentionally. My children and grandchildren, everyone else’s, and this beautiful fragile earth are too precious to keep risking the apocalypse.

If the U.S. and NATO, less than two months after the Russian invasion in February of 2022, had let President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine sign the agreement he negotiated in Istanbul with the Russians, rather than pressuring him to keep fighting against a far larger, stronger foe (and help the West “weaken” Russia in the words of Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin), Ukraine wouldn’t have lost hundreds of thousands — some estimate nearly a million! — dead and severely wounded soldiers, plus significant loss of territory, millions of their people who fled to other countries, and massive destruction of their industry, infrastructure, and environment.

Now there are increasing mainstream news media reports, as well as from numerous independent media outlets and military/foreign policy experts such as retired U.S. Lt. Col. Alex Vershinin (May 5 “Responsible Statecraft”), that Russia is advancing on every front and starting a new offensive, while Ukraine is struggling to mobilize (and often forcibly conscript) new recruits because many men are paying bribes to hide or leave the country, while others already in the army are deserting in larger numbers.

Polling by Gallup last November showed a majority of Ukrainians are so tired of this war and its tragic impacts that they support a negotiated peace agreement even if it meant giving up some territory such as Crimea and the Donbass region where much of the fighting is taking place. The polls also showed that popular support for President Zelensky and his policies has dropped to less than 20%.

If Ukraine and its U.S./NATO backers don’t face the music and negotiate the best deal it can get with Russia, and if we choose to keep arming rather than urging it to accept such a deal, it’s just going to be a continued bloodbath with the military odds stacked against them, and Ukraine may lose even more land and cities and end up with a much smaller, less economically viable state.

Last but not least and as if one existential threat (nuclear war) wasn’t enough to contend with, let’s not forget that the war in Ukraine, with its huge carbon footprint, is only making the climate emergency worse. Plus our own military maintaining over 800 bases worldwide, making war on Yemen, fueling the Israeli genocide on Gaza, and preparing for possible war with Iran: we’re just pouring more gasoline on the climate fire.

For additional vital background and perspective, I recommend three Ukrainian scholars: Prof. Nicolai Petro, University of Rhode Island; Prof. Marta Havryshko, Clark University; and Prof. Ivan Katchanovsky, University of Toronto. Also renowned British Russia expert Prof. Richard Sakwa, and former top CIA Russia analyst George Beebe of Quincy Institute.

John Berkowitz of Northampton is a member of Massachusetts Peace Action’s Ukraine Peace Campaign.