Related: Should the US negotiate/force the Ukraine to negotiate and end to the war?
Background
Since September 2022, Russian forces have taken a beating in the Ukraine, with estimates placing the number of killed or too wounded to return to the fight at 90,000. The day after Russia annexed four parts of the Ukraine, Ukraine advanced to liberate one of the territories. Given Russia’s massive set-backs, some have started to argue that the Ukraine and the US should offer to at least allow Russia to keep Crimea, a part of the Ukraine it seized in 2014 that they are now threatening to take back. Without this minimal concession (and perhaps others), Russia may decided to use tactical nuclear weapons. But giving into Russia in this area could signal that the US will back-down in the face of Russian aggression.
“Tensions between the West and Russia have reached unprecedented levels for this century amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The war has led to increased discussion over the probability of nuclear war, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — who has helped Ukraine by providing Starlink satellite internet coverage over the country — recently posting a de-escalation plan on Twitter involving Ukraine ceding Crimea to Russia. After the plan was poorly received in Ukraine, Musk tweeted: “if Russia is faced with the choice of losing Crimea or using battlefield nukes, they will choose the latter.” Chris Young, 10-20, 22
Yes
*Russia will use nuclear weapons if the Ukraine takes Crime back
*Crimea belongs to Russia
*Battling Russia over Crimea will disrupt global food supplies
Ukraine war: why Moscow could go nuclear over Kyiv’s ‘threats’ to Crimea
Russia would use tactical nuclear weapons if Crimea threatened, Elon Musk claims
We are on a path to nuclear war
US-NATO escalation in Ukraine risks nuclear war
No
*Crimea was wrongly taken from Russia
*Allowing Russia to keep Crimea will embolden Russian aggression
Not Even Nuclear War Will Stop the Fighting in Ukraine
How to respond to Putin’s land grab and nuclear gambit
The West Worries Too Much About Escalation in Ukraine
NATO Can Do More Without Provoking Moscow
Related
Why the War in Ukraine Won’t Spark a Nuclear Proliferation Cascade