Looking at a large map of eastern Europe and western Russia with Ukraine in the middle, the Donbas region and Crimea are colored (usually in red), and this red portion looks like a huge question mark falling backwards into Russia. Meanwhile, Putin continues to take as much land as he can, bombing cities and killing Ukrainian citizens daily since February 24. “How it zeroes out” usually means to reduce “it” to zero. This can be good if the mission is accomplished. The mission for the Russians is to restore a part of the former Soviet Union to Russia. The mission of Ukrainians is to restore the sovereignty of Ukraine to Ukrainians. No one is sure how this “zeros out” given the enormous size and power of Russia; but also given the fierce resistance of the Ukrainians and assistance from NATO. The most optimistic and idealistic steps to lessen the killing and create a time for diplomacy are the following:

The best and quickest step would be a regime change in Russia, by the Russians, many of whom are slowly getting the truth about Putin’s “special military operation,” and are not happy with an autocracy where the rich get richer, and the poor grow poorer. Russia today is less communist but more autocratic.  Vladimir Putin sees himself more as a new “Peter the Great” than as a “Stalin.”

Since a regime change in Russia is uncertain and the killing continues daily, the most idealistic solution is a United Nations call for an immediate ceasefire by both Russians and Ukrainians. ‘Immediate’ is key here since setting a date down the road means an increase in killing by both sides hoping to ‘better their position’ in future “peace talks.” Russian troops would return to Russia and Ukrainian troops to Ukraine west of the Donbas/Crimea region for a period of up to five years.

The next step would be an immediate arrival of a neutral United Nations Peacekeeping force that would exclude any troops from Ukraine, Russia, the USA, and from any other NATO nations. Peace talks would start as soon as possible while reconstruction of areas damaged by the Russian invasion would be high on the agenda. Talks would include when the boycott, divestment and sanctions of Russia would decrease and how it would be carried out.

Time, peacekeeping troops, and diplomatic peace talks might find the best solution with the least killing of people and destruction of cities in the Ukraine. All media in many nations speak of the international impact of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. Many nations should be involved in a solution if there is one. The best solution is to “zero out” the violence now and put much effort into “zeroing in” on peace; which is never just the absence of war but the presence of justice.