At some stage Ukraine and Russia will need to negotiate an end to this war, the Ukrainian side will seek to negotiate from a strong position. They are certainly doing that, they have begun their offensive and they have Russia running away from the fight. Now Russia has called up 300,000 reservists, this is a serious escalation and one feels won’t end well.

Ukraine will have to bring some concessions to negotiations, they can offer some concessions such as not joining NATO. But let’s face it, Ukraine has shown it does not need NATO protection, they are doing fine all by themselves. Yes, they have canvassed NATO and nations for weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has worked hard to garner international support and procure weapons for Ukraine. A pretty good concession to offer Russia for complete withdrawal of all their forces is not having NATO in Ukraine.

Then there is the case for reparations, Russia has to pay for the destruction of Ukraine. The Russian oligarchs hold an unequal share of the wealth of Russia, they were gifted businesses as long as they supported Putin. These are the international Russian assets that will be required to rebuild Ukraine, they are not going to win. Ukraine will negotiate from a reasonably strong position, they are beginning to turn this war around and embarrass Russian on an international stage.

I would severely doubt international sanctions will be immediately removed once Russia extracts itself from Ukraine. From what I am reading, these sanctions are causing some pretty severe limitations in Russia, they are also pulling conscripts from factories manufacturing weapons, so that will be interesting. Since it has been well broadcast that fleeing Russian troops left weapons and equipment for Ukraine to use against them in the future.

I would say Russian gas will need to be redirected to pay for these repatriations, nothing will bring back the lost Ukrainian lives, but this will fund the rebuilding of Ukraine. The Russian tactic of destroying cities will come at a cost, they may have got away with it in Syria, but a victorious Ukraine will hold Russia to account. You can be sure the international community will have no hesitation to confiscate Russian assets and offer them to Ukraine.