Valery Zaluzhny: A Deal With The Devil Is Simply Impossible
3- 1.10.2026, 16:24
- 2,778
He understands only force.
Peace with Russia cannot be achieved based on business logic, because without international law, any agreements will merely be a lull before a new war.
This was written by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhny, in a column for “24 Kanal”.
Zaluzhny is convinced that the old world order no longer works, and along with it, international law—which was supposed to serve as the basis for negotiations—has disappeared. Under such conditions, he writes, any agreement will be a prelude to the next war, and its outbreak is only a matter of time.
For Ukraine to prevail, its partners must not only help it survive but also fight alongside it. According to Zaluzhny, the first step is to not be afraid to call the enemy an enemy. “A deal with the devil is simply impossible. After all, he understands only force. And that force is us,” he wrote.
According to the columnist, world leaders do not want to understand the causes and consequences of this war. Instead of assessing strength and the ability to win, they are trying to conclude agreements that have already lost their relevance. Because of this, Zaluzhny believes that—perhaps for the first time in history—the fate of the war has been taken into the hands of soldiers on the battlefield, rather than strategists.
Zaluzhny writes that following the annexation of Crimea, the entire system of international law established after World War II ceased to function. Among the documents that failed to prevent the war, he cited the UN Charter, the Helsinki Accords, and the Budapest Memorandum. Most of all, in his view, the UN itself was surprised, as it proved incapable of defending freedom and independence.
He calls the war in Ukraine the root cause of global instability, which has already paved the way for war in the Middle East. The consequences, he says, are visible even on gas station price tags. And Russian missiles and drones, assembled primarily from foreign components, are falling on NATO territory.
Zaluzhny devoted a separate section of his column to veterans. He writes that, over time, society forgets their sacrifices and believes they no longer have the right to influence civilian life. That is precisely why, in his opinion, there has been no peace in Ukraine for 12 years: those who build peace do not seek advice from people who know its true value.
In conclusion, Zaluzhny warned that losing the war against ourselves means losing our civilization, trading it, for example, for rare-earth materials for killer robots.
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