Four years into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, total casualties have reached over two million according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a significant increase from the tens of thousands recorded during early peace talks. The war’s current casualty figures now exceed the historic losses sustained during the Battle of Stalingrad. In the spring of 2022, delegations in Istanbul made the most serious diplomatic attempt to end the conflict, drafting a comprehensive agreement that would have established Ukraine as a permanently neutral and non-nuclear state. The proposed Istanbul Declaration outlined robust security guarantees, a potential no-fly zone, and a 15-year framework to peacefully resolve the dispute over Crimea. Despite the parties significantly converging on these arrangements, the landmark opportunity fell through, a failure researchers largely attribute to the diplomatic stance of European nations at the time.
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