Halyna Yanchenko, MP, Head of the Verkhovna Rada temporary ad-hoc Commission on Protection of Investors' Rights

Today marks four years of the full-scale war and the twelfth year since Russian troops — the so-called “little green men” — entered Crimea and the Donbas. What do I think about on this day? The price of peace in Ukraine.

Ukrainians pay that price every single day: sitting in the dark under shelling, losing loved ones, fighting on the front line. We are not fighting simply for “peace.” We are fighting for our choice. For freedom. For democracy. For Europe. For the right not to live under the Russian regime — a regime harsher than prison walls.

Peace is not a commodity you can buy on a political market. That is why the question, “What price should Ukraine pay for peace?” — which is raised again and again in negotiations — is flawed in itself.

The rhetoric of “paying for peace” follows the logic of “give the dragon the most beautiful girl so he won’t burn the city.” But the dragon will come back.

There is an ancient Greek legend about a city terrorized for years by a dragon living by a lake. To appease it, the townspeople first offered livestock. When that ran out, they began sacrificing their own children, chosen by lot. One day, the lot fell on the king’s daughter — and that is when Saint George appeared. He fought the dragon, wounded it, dragged it into the city, and killed it.

The sacrifices did not end because the dragon was satisfied. They ended because someone finally said: enough — and backed those words with action.

Peace to the Sound of Sirens

This winter has brought more talk of “peace” than any before it. At the same time, it has seen the highest number of attacks on civilian targets since the full-scale invasion began.

In 2025, there were only four nights when Russia did not launch drones at Ukrainian cities. The same year became the deadliest for civilians: more than 2,500 killed and over 12,000 injured — about one-third more than in 2024.

These are our relatives, our friends, someone’s neighbors, brothers and sisters. They did not die in trenches. They died at home, in hospitals, in supermarkets, on playgrounds — targeted strikes on residential areas and critical infrastructure.

Behind closed diplomatic doors, the logic of “feeding the dragon” is often voiced almost word for word. Ukraine is being asked to voluntarily give up part of the Donetsk region, where around 200,000 Ukrainians still live.

To hand over this land would mean knowingly condemning those people to occupation, torture, rape, and murder. Ukraine will not do that.

There is also a security dimension. These territories form a fortified defensive line holding back Russia’s advance. Giving them up would not bring peace — it would open the way to the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. From a military standpoint, it would be suicide.

The current negotiation process has produced no results so far. Like previous attempts, it has stalled because of the same old mistake: pressure is placed on the victim of aggression, while Russia’s conditions remain largely unchanged.

Ukraine is not escalating — the aggressor is. We hope that those who take on the role of mediators will learn from past failures, so that negotiations can finally move forward.

Do Not Feed the Dragon

Russia fears U.S. sanctions. Yet over the past year, sanctions pressure has not been significantly strengthened.

A new incentive for Putin to come to the negotiating table came from the campaign to seize vessels from Russia’s “shadow fleet” transporting sanctioned oil. However, after four successful blockades of Russia-linked ships carried out with U.S. involvement, that initiative is now on hold.

Russian oil continues to sell.

Today, the largest buyers of Russian crude are China, India, and Turkey. In 2025, they purchased 91% of Russia’s crude oil exports — 47% by China, 38% by India, and about 6% by Turkey — worth $142 billion.

The EU has almost entirely phased out Russian crude oil. The exceptions remain Slovakia and Hungary, which together still account for at least 6% of Russian exports, worth around $8 billion per year.

According to the Kyiv School of Economics, Russia earned $156 billion in 2025 from exports of crude oil and petroleum products — despite sanctions and price caps. The Kremlin allocated nearly the same amount to war: $137 billion in direct military spending and up to $161 billion for “defense” overall.

These are direct funds for missiles, drones, and bombs. As long as the world buys Russian oil, the Kremlin has a war budget — and no reason to compromise.

The only way to change Russia’s behavior is to make the war too expensive for it to continue. Cut off the money. Remove the ability to finance aggression. Without that, all talk of peace is just background noise to new attacks.

Who Is Next?

Over the past year, peace negotiations have been filled with rhetoric about what and how quickly Ukraine should give up to satisfy Russia. But they have failed to answer a crucial question: what guarantees are there that Russia will not return?

Today Putin wants the Donetsk region. Tomorrow it could be one of the Baltic states.

Are Europeans and Americans ready to pay for “peace” with their own territories and the people who live there? Is anyone else willing to test whether an aggressor stops after receiving concessions?

The aggressor can only be made to pay if we act together — not by debating what new “sacrifice” to offer the dragon from the swamps.

Russia must pay — not for peace, but for the war it started.

This war is not only against Ukraine. It is a war against the civilized way of life and the values Europe stands for. Until Ukraine receives real guarantees, not only we are unprotected — all of Europe is.

Ukraine has already bought Europe four years of time. Four years during which Russia’s army has been worn down here — not on the borders of the Baltic states or Poland.

So the question is not what new sacrifice Ukraine must make.

The real question is this: are we — Ukraine, Europe, and the United States — ready to draw a line together and say, “Enough.”