Kuleba: Euphoria and Demands for 1991 Borders in Late 2022 Complicated Any Deal With Russia
Former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba discusses whether Ukraine could have ended the war with Russia in earlier years. He says that in late 2022 society was in a state of euphoria and focused on returning to the 1991 borders.
Former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba says that claims of a chance to reach a deal with Russia at the end of 2022 cannot be separated from the mood in Ukrainian society at the time. According to him, euphoria prevailed then, and the goal was seen as restoring the country's 1991 borders. Under such conditions, Kuleba suggests, a compromise agreement was hard to imagine.
The topic was published by the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda on 2 November 2026. The outlet notes that the question of whether Ukraine could have ended the war in earlier years, and why it did not, resurfaces with each new wave of negotiations.
The available excerpt from the outlet gives no details on which specific terms were discussed in late 2022, who took part in talks, or what position the other side held. For that reason, only Kuleba's main argument is reported here: a possible deal ran up against public expectations and strong hopes for a full restoration of the borders.
