Avoid the A word when discussing Ukraine crisis

Discussing complex issues of war and peace is never easy. Each country promotes its interests and agendas. To avoid slipping into the abyss of war all sides must engage in sensible negotiation geared toward peaceful resolution that considers often intractable competing interests.

Unfortunately, the current crisis in Ukraine is causing some Western hardliners to denigrate any efforts to negotiate sensibly with the Russians. When French President Emmanuel Macron promoted negotiations with Russia to resolve the threat of Russia invading Ukraine, British intelligence chairman Col. Richard Kemp compared Macron to Neville Chamberlain negotiating with Hitler at Munich, 1938, saying “Today, it’s almost as if President Macron is reading from Chamberlain’s appeasement script.”

References to Hitler, Chamberlain, Munich as well as especially appeasement have no place in the current discussion of East-West concerns involving the two nuclear superpowers capable of wiping out humanity if negotiations fail.