Without electricity and heating, life-threatening cold, relentless Russian attacks and a difficult situation on the front: this is the exhausting reality for millions of people in Ukraine. Even during the Geneva talks, Moscow continued to carry out drone and missile strikes, including on energy facilities in the Odessa region.
The systematic destruction of infrastructure is depriving society of the basic conditions of life, writes Andrea Beer in her commentary for the German public broadcaster ARD. This did not just start this icy winter, but has been a declared goal of the attackers since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion four years ago, she points out.
The destruction of the "Kakhovka" dam, by the way, is also such an example. The destruction of the dam wall caused flooding in the Kherson region, which was already devastated by the war. The evidence pointing to Russia as responsible for this seems convincing.
Russia demands concessions from Ukraine
The targeted destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure also includes the occupation of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe - the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which began in March 2022. Before it was seized by the Russians, the plant provided about 20 percent of the country's electricity needs. Today, the precarious cooling of the decommissioned reactors is still carried out by Kiev, but Moscow has de facto taken over the nuclear power plant. No agreement was reached in Geneva on this issue.
If it were up to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Ukraine would have to agree to some kind of compromise on this nuclear power, as well as on the Donbass, from which Ukrainians would have to leave voluntarily and without any resistance, and Ukraine would also have to agree to elections - despite the fact that martial law has been declared in the country.
Propaganda works - including with Trump
As always, Moscow is masterfully using the Geneva talks as part of the military campaign and simply sticking to its long-formulated demands - for example, that the "causes of the conflict" should be eliminated. Russia's positions are shrouded in fog, leaving room for interpretation, Moscow drags out and distorts things - and simply continues its aggressive war.
In the conquered territories, Russia has established a brutal occupation regime, in which torture, arbitrariness and lawlessness are the order of the day. At the same time, Moscow continues to flood the global information space with disinformation, writes Andrea Beer.
Unfortunately, propaganda is also working with US President Donald Trump. He is putting more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia, Ukrainian President Zelensky complained - and he is probably right. For better or worse, Ukraine and the Europeans must come to terms with this and silence the capricious Trump. Because the Americans are irrevocable regarding security guarantees for Ukraine after the possible end of the war.
It is not clear what has been achieved in this regard at the talks in Geneva. If more pressure is not exerted on Russia, the next rounds of negotiations will be primarily part of Moscow's war, part of Russia's offensive war against Ukraine, Andrea Beer also writes in her commentary for the public media ARD.
Author: Andrea Beer (ARD)