Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia David Rundell and former U.S. Central Command political adviser Michael Gfeller urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hurry up negotiations and listen to the lyrics of The Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" ("You Can't Always Get What You Want"). always get what you want." In their opinion, there is less and less time left to end the conflict through negotiations.

Politicians have stressed that the Ukrainian people need peace, security and economic recovery, and that none of these goals can be achieved by continuing clashes that Ukraine will never win.

Rundell and Gfoeller noted that in World War I, World War II, and the American Civil War, the side with the largest population and strongest industrial base won. They believe that a similar scenario could be repeated in the Ukrainian conflict. 

The success of the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remains doubtful, but the failure of the offensive will significantly weaken Kyiv's position in the negotiations.

In addition, experts pointed out that the conflict is depleting NATO's weapons stocks and accelerating the loss of Western influence around the world. In this regard, they proposed to stop hostilities and hold a referendum under the supervision of the UN on the issue of joining the four Eastern Ukrainian regions to Russia.

Politicians believe that without a referendum that allows the main goals to be achieved peacefully, Russia will continue to fight on the battlefield until it takes all four eastern Ukrainian regions, and perhaps not stop there.