Russia is hinting at peace. Here's why Ukraine shouldn't take it.

Not every kind of peace can justify war, though. After all, a brutal conqueror might extract submission at the point of a sword — or pacify a rival by simply exterminating its population. In order to avoid a kind of peace that seems worse than the fighting it concludes, just war theorists specify that violence must aim at a particular kind of peace. A just peace doesn’t only mean that the guns stop firing; it is a condition in which human dignity and political rights are protected.

That’s where the humanitarian argument for a quick deal in Ukraine falls short. Freezing the conflict in its current condition might save hundreds or thousands of non-combatants who would otherwise face injury or death. But it would also effectively reward Russia for its act of aggression, adding to the territory under its control and giving its forces the opportunity to rebuild. Even a sustained pause in fighting would not really be peace. Instead, it would merely begin a countdown to the next war, when Russia might try again to dismember or even annex its neighbor.