Embedded Files
February 23, 2025
We, the Carleton University Human Rights Society, strongly condemn the attempts by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to negotiate Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty without its direct involvement. Recent reports indicate that the United States is engaging in discussions with Vladimir Putin that could lead to Ukraine ceding up to a fifth of its internationally recognized land. Such negotiations, conducted without Ukraine’s consent, violate the fundamental principles of sovereignty and international law.
Ukraine has been fighting for its survival since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the full-scale invasion in 2022 has only intensified this struggle. Over the past two years, Ukrainian civilians have endured relentless missile strikes, forced deportations, and mass killings perpetrated by Russian forces. Independent investigations by the United Nations and human rights organizations have documented numerous war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, the use of torture, and the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia. People living in “temporarily occupied territories” face a cultural genocide, consisting of enforced Russification, passportization, indoctrination of children, and suppression of Ukrainian language and culture. Any negotiations that fail to address these crimes or hold perpetrators accountable serve only to legitimize Russia’s brutality.
The world has seen this strategy of appeasement before, with catastrophic consequences. In 1938, Britain, France, and Italy brokered the Munich Agreement, handing over Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland to Nazi Germany without Czechoslovakia’s participation. At the time, this was framed as a diplomatic effort to maintain peace. Instead, it emboldened Hitler, who soon seized the rest of Czechoslovakia and launched World War II. Just as the international community abandoned Czechoslovakia in 1938, we now risk repeating history by allowing Ukraine’s future to be determined by those who seek to destroy it.
The Munich Agreement taught the world that negotiating away another country’s sovereignty does not prevent war—it invites further aggression. Russia has already demonstrated that its goal is not just territorial conquest but the dismantling of Ukraine as a nation. Putin himself has openly denied Ukraine’s right to exist in a 2022 essay titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” and the Russian regime seeks to eliminate Ukraine’s cultural, linguistic, and political identity. Conceding Ukrainian territory under the guise of peace would only encourage further Russian expansionism.
This is not about prolonging a violent, senseless, and deadly war—it is about ensuring that peace is just and sustainable. Genuine peace cannot be achieved through secret deals made without the input of those who will suffer the consequences. Any resolution must prioritize Ukraine’s sovereignty, provide accountability for war crimes, and respect the rights of Ukrainians to determine their own future. A stable and lasting peace can only be achieved if the international community upholds the principle that borders cannot be redrawn through violence and that those responsible for atrocities face justice.
The Carleton University Human Rights Society urges global leaders to stand firmly with Ukraine and reject any agreement that compromises its territorial integrity. We call for continued humanitarian assistance, as well as the enforcement of international legal mechanisms to hold Russia accountable for its crimes. Any diplomatic resolution must respect Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and ensure that Ukraine is a primary party in any negotiations about its future. To abandon Ukraine now would not only betray the Ukrainian people but also undermine the very principles of human rights and international law.
History has already shown us what happens when the world chooses appeasement over justice. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again. The world must not stand by while Ukraine is carved up to placate an aggressor. Ukraine must be at the table for any negotiations about its future, and the international community must ensure that justice, not surrender, prevails.
“When I die, bury me
On a grave mound
Amid the wide-wide steppe
In my beloved Ukraine,”
(Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian Poet)
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