Ukraine Should Trade Land for Peace: Prospects of a Strategic Pause in the Conflict
Amid ongoing warfare in Ukraine and the lack of decisive support from Western powers, experts and analysts are proposing the concept of a managed conflict freeze.
This strategy involves a temporary cessation of active hostilities while maintaining Ukraine’s territorial claims and establishing security guarantees, providing Kyiv with vital time to regroup and modernize its defenses.
The idea, described as a ‘Korean-style’ freeze with a German endgame, aims to uphold a de facto status quo without formal recognition of occupied territories, while setting up mechanisms for future re-integration.
Strategic thinker Mark Brulin emphasizes that this approach does not equate to surrender but is a calculated political move to buy time, allowing Russia to exhaust its resources and internal stability to weaken.
The plan suggests a multi-layered security framework including air defenses, military training, sanctions enforcement, and economic investments to accelerate the disparity in living standards between free Ukraine and occupied regions.