What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

14 February 2025, 14:55

By John Caudwell

@JohnDCaudwell

I desperately want to see an end to the war in Ukraine, but the mood music coming out of Moscow and Washington feels more like the prelude to surrender talks than peace talks.

News that negotiations will begin immediately on ending the war in Ukraine have taken many by surprise, following a call between the US President and his Russian counterpart Putin. According to reports, it is a move that has blindsided Europe and, presumably, many of us.

A surrender forced on Ukraine, a nation fighting for its survival, who, along with its European neighbours, may not even be invited to the so-called negotiations.

How can this possibly end well if the opening gambit involves sidelining the victim, conceding key leverage (territory and NATO membership), and legitimising a war criminal?

Let’s imagine that the UK and not Ukraine were at the centre of this tragedy.

Russia invades and succeeds in occupying nearly 20 per cent of our country. The South West and South East are under brutal occupation.

Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, West Sussex – all of them gone. The people, the countryside, the cities, the history – everything is under enemy control.

Thanks to the Blitz-like bravery of ordinary citizens and weapons support from abroad, we’ve never capitulated. Our capital stands strong; our sovereignty and national pride remain intact.

But now our greatest ally – the United States – has grown weary of the fight. Over our heads, they enter into direct negotiations with Putin. They tell us to give up our blood-soaked land and warn that if Putin comes back for more in the future, we’ll be on our own.

Would you accept that? Would you surrender so much after such sacrifice? Would you write off entire regions – our homes, our heritage – as expendable?

Although Europe’s leaders are rushing to obtain more clarity on Trump’s plans this week, potentially during the imminent Munich Security Conference, we shall have to wait and see. The devil will be in the detail.

But what we do know, however, is that having been cut out of the loop, Europe’s role in this and probably other big geopolitical discussions is clearly not seen as important by those on the other side of the pond.

Europe’s voice may not be seen as necessary, but apparently its money definitely will be for the reparations of this terrible war.

We must remember that this isn’t just a faraway conflict.

If a psychopathic megalomaniac like Putin is rewarded for his illegal aggression in Ukraine, it won’t stop there.

It will embolden him – and others like him – to bring their violence to our own doorstep sooner than we dare imagine.

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John Caudwell is a Business leader, philanthropist and the founder of Phones 4U.

Follow @JohnDCaudwell on X, @johncaudwell on Instagram.

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