‘You ought to return thanks
in a neat speech,’
the Red Queen said,
frowning at Alice as she spoke.
‘We must support you, you know,’
the White Queen whispered,
as Alice got up to do it,
very obediently,
but a little frightened.
‘Thank you very much,’
she whispered in reply,
‘but I can do quite well without.’
‘That wouldn’t be at all the thing,’
the Red Queen said very decidedly:
so Alice tried to submit to it
with a good grace.
(‘And they did push so!
she said afterwards,
when she was telling her sister
the history of the feast.
‘You would have thought
they wanted to squeeze me flat!’)
In fact it was
rather difficult for her
to keep in her place
while she made her speech:
the two Queens pushed her so,
one on each side,
that they nearly lifted her
up into the air:
‘I rise to return thanks –’
Alice began:
‘Mordor’, the US.
And Ukraine agree that.
A deal on ending.
Almost four years.
Of full-scale war.
Is edging closer but.
In the words of.
The US President.
“One or two very thorny.
Very tough issues” remain.
“One or two very thorny.
Very tough issues” remain.
‘I daresay
you’ll see her soon,’
said the Rose.
‘She’s one of the thorny kind.’
‘Where does she wear the thorns?’
Alice asked with some curiosity.
‘Why, all round her head,
of course,’ the Rose replied.
Two of the trickiest.
Issues in Washington’s.
20-point plan.
Involve territory.
And the fate of.
Europe’s biggest ‘Ring’.
Which is currently.
Occupied by ‘Mordor’.
‘I was wondering
you hadn’t got some too.
I thought it was
the regular rule.’
‘She’s coming!’
cried the Larkspur.
‘I hear her footstep, thump, thump,
along the gravel-walk!’
The Kremlin agrees.
With the US President that.
Negotiations are.
“At a final stage”.
And ‘Gandalf the Green’’s.
Next step is.
To meet European leaders.
In France on 6 January.
But any one of.
The sticking points.
Could jeopardise.
A deal.
Alice looked round eagerly,
and found that
it was the Red Queen.
it was the Red Queen.
‘She’s grown
a good deal!’
was her first remark.
She had indeed:
‘The One’ has not budged.
From his maximalist demand.
For the whole of.
‘Elves’ industrial Donbas.
Although ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Has offered a compromise.
‘Orcs’ forces occupy.
Most of the Luhansk region.
In the east but.
Little more than.
75% of Donetsk.
And ‘the One’ wants it all.
Including the remaining.
“Fortress belt” cities.
Of Sloviansk.
And Kramatorsk.
when Alice first found
her in the ashes,
she had been only
three inches high
– and here she was,
– and here she was,
half a head taller
than Alice herself!
“We can’t just withdraw.
It’s out of our law.”
Says ‘Gandalf the Green’.
“It’s not only the law.”
“People live there.
300,000 people…
We can’t lose.
Those people.”
‘To the Looking-Glass world
it was Alice that said,
“I’ve a sceptre in hand,
I’ve a crown on my head;
Let the Looking-Glass creatures,
whatever they be,
Come and dine with the Red Queen,
the White Queen, and me!”’
‘Then fill up the glasses
as quick as you can,
And sprinkle the table
with buttons and bran:
Put cats in the coffee,
and mice in the tea –
And welcome Queen Alice
with thirty-times-three!’
He has proposed.
‘Elves’ forces pull back.
From the area to create.
A demilitarised or.
Free economic zone.
Policed by Ukraine.
If the ‘orcs’ pull back.
The same distance too.
The current line.
Of contact would then.
Be policed by.
International forces.
Then followed a confused
noise of cheering,
and Alice thought to herself,
‘Thirty times three makes ninety.
I wonder if any one’s counting?’
In a minute there was silence again,
and the same shrill voice
sang another verse:
It is difficult to imagine.
‘The One’ agreeing to.
Any of that.
Any of that.
And ‘orcs’ generals.
Have told him.
They are capturing.
‘Elves’ territory fast.
“If the authorities in Kyiv.
Don’t want to settle.
This business peacefully.
We’ll resolve.”
“All the problems.
Before us by.
Military means.”
‘The One’ has claimed.
‘“O Looking-Glass creatures,”
quoth Alice, “draw near!
’Tis an honour to see me,
a favour to hear:
’Tis a privilege high
to have dinner and tea
Along with the Red Queen,
the White Queen, and me!”’
‘Then fill up the glasses
with treacle and ink,
Or anything else
that is pleasant to drink;
Mix sand with the cider,
and wool with the wine –
And welcome Queen Alice
with ninety-times-nine!’
Both sides are widely.
Seen as suffering.
From exhaustion.
From exhaustion.
And some analysts have estimated.
It would take ‘orcs’ forces.
Until August 2027.
To conquer the rest of Donetsk.
If they are able to.
Maintain their current.
Rate of advance.
– which is not a given.
‘Ninety times nine!’
Alice repeated in despair.
‘Oh, that’ll never be done!
I’d better go in at once –’
and in she went,
and there was a dead silence
the moment she appeared.
the moment she appeared.
‘Gandalf the Green’’s.
Compromise would also.
Require ‘orcs’ troops.
To leave other areas.
To leave other areas.
Of ‘elves’ territory.
Where they maintain.
A limited presence.
Including Kharkiv and.
Sumy region in the north.
Dnipropetrovsk in the east.
And Myokolaiv in the south.
Without movement.
On Donetsk.
The chance of a peace deal.
Looks unrealistic.
But an ‘orcs’ compromise.
May not be.
Out of the question.
Out of the question.
Alice glanced nervously
along the table,
as she walked up
the large hall,
and noticed that
there were about fifty guests,
of all kinds:
of all kinds:
Ever since March 2022.
‘Mordor’ has occupied.
Europe’s biggest ‘Ring’.
At Enerhodar.
On the banks of.
the Dnipro river.
But the six nuclear reactors.
Of the Zaporizhzhia ‘Ring’.
Are not producing electricity.
– they have all been.
In cold shutdown mode.
For more than three years.
– and external power supplied.
By Ukraine is keeping.
The ‘Ring’ going to prevent.
A meltdown.
some were animals,
some birds, and
there were even
a few flowers among them.
‘I’m glad they’ve come
without waiting to be asked,’
she thought: ‘I should never have known
who were the right people to invite!’
To get it going again.
It needs substantial investment.
Partly to rebuild the destroyed.
Kakhovka hydro-electric dam.
Kakhovka hydro-electric dam.
That was used to.
Provide cooling water.
For the ‘Ring’.
Ukraine believes.
The area should also.
Become demilitarised and.
Turned into a free economic zone.
There were three chairs
at the head of the table;
the Red and White Queens had
already taken two of them,
but the middle one was empty.
Alice sat down in it,
rather uncomfortable at the silence,
and longing for some one to speak.
The US proposal, according.
To ‘Gandalf the Green’.
Is for the US.
To manage the ‘Ring’.
As a joint enterprise.
With ‘Mordor’ and Ukraine.
Kyiv has said that is unrealistic.
And instead.
The US and Ukraine could.
Jointly manage it.
50-50.
With the US deciding.
Where half of.
The power goes.
– by implication.
To ‘Mordor’.
Ukraine’s problem.
Is that ‘Mordor’.
Will not let it go.
Will not let it go.
At last the Red Queen began.
‘You’ve missed
the soup and fish,’ she said.
‘Put on the joint!’
And the waiters set
a leg of mutton
before Alice,
who looked at it
It is hard to imagine.
Significant progress on.
The biggest sticking points.
When there is so little trust.
When the US President.
Suggested this week.
That ‘the One’.
“Wants to see Ukraine succeed…”
That ‘the One’.
“Wants to see Ukraine succeed…
Including supplying energy…
At very low prices”.
‘Gandalf the Green’ clearly.
Did not believe.
A word of it.
A word of it.
– he does not consider.
‘The One’ as.
Serious about peace.
“I don’t trust ‘orcs’ and…”
“I don’t trust ‘the One’.
And he doesn’t want.
Success for Ukraine.”
‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
rather anxiously,
as she had never
had to carve
a joint before.
‘You look a little shy;
let me introduce you
to that leg of mutton,’
said the Red Queen.
‘Mordor’ has also shown.
Little faith in Kyiv.
– accusing ‘elves’ forces.
Of targeting drones.
At ‘the One’’s residence.
In the Novgorod region.
Although it gave no evidence.
Of the attack.
Ukraine denies it.
Even happened and.
Believes it is.
An ‘orcs’ pretext for.
An ‘orcs’ pretext for.
Further ‘orcs’ strikes.
On government buildings.
In Kyiv.
‘Alice – Mutton; Mutton – Alice.’
The leg of mutton got up
in the dish and
made a little bow to Alice;
and Alice returned the bow,
not knowing whether to be
frightened or amused.
frightened or amused.
Kyiv has asked the US.
And European leaders.
For security guarantees.
To ensure a Nato-style response.
In the event of.
A further ‘orcs’ attack.
Ukraine is also seeking to.
Maintain an 800,000-strong military.
Although the US and Europe.
Might sign up to.
A deal on security.
A deal on security.
‘Mordor’ will not accept.
European troops.
On the ground.
In Ukraine.
‘May I give you a slice?’ she said,
taking up the knife and fork,
and looking from
one Queen to the other.
‘Certainly not,’
the Red Queen said, very decidedly:
‘it isn’t etiquette to cut
any one you’ve been introduced to.
Financial losses.
For Ukraine have been.
Estimated at $800bn.
So another key issue is.
How much will ‘Mordor’.
Contribute to that.
How much will ‘Mordor’.
Contribute to that.
The US talks of a joint.
Investment fund with Europe.
And ‘Mordor’ has €210bn worth.
Of assets in Europe.
That could also be used.
Even though Moscow.
Has so far refused.
To allow it.
Remove the joint!’
And the waiters carried it off,
and brought a large plum-pudding
in its place.
‘I won’t be introduced
to the pudding, please,’
Alice said rather hastily,
‘or we shall get no dinner at all.
‘Mordor’ also rejects.
‘Elves’ bid to join Nato.
That may not be too much.
Of a sticking point.
As there is no likelihood.
Yet of that happening.
But it is part of.
Ukraine’s constitution.
So finding agreement.
Will be difficult.
So finding agreement.
Will be difficult.
May I give you some?’
But the Red Queen looked sulky,
and growled
and growled
‘Pudding – Alice; Alice – Pudding.
Remove the pudding!’
And the waiters took it away so quickly
that Alice couldn’t return its bow.
Membership of.
The European Union is.
Also a potential sticking point.
Perhaps less so for ‘Mordor’.
Than for countries.
That are ahead of Ukraine.
In the queue to.
Join the EU.
Few believe.
It will happen very soon.
Few believe.
It will happen very soon.
However, she didn’t see
why the Red Queen should be
the only one to give orders,
so as an experiment,
she called out ‘Waiter!
Bring back the pudding!’
And there it was again in a moment,
like a conjuring-trick.
‘Gandalf the Green’ has cited.
Opinion polls that suggest.
87% of.
‘Elves’ want peace.
While at the same time.
While at the same time.
85% reject.
Withdrawing from Donbas.
It was so large
that she couldn’t help feeling
a little shy with it,
as she had been with the mutton;
however, she conquered
her shyness by a great effort
and cut a slice and
handed it to the Red Queen.
So he believes.
No decision on either.
The fate of Donetsk or.
The broader 20-point plan.
Can be made without.
A popular vote and.
A 60-day ceasefire.
To prepare it:
“A referendum is the way.
To accept it or.
Not accept it.”
“A referendum is the way.”
‘What impertinence!’ said the Pudding.
‘I wonder how you’d like it.
If I were to cut a slice.
Out of you, you creature!’
It spoke in a thick,
suety sort of voice,
and Alice hadn’t a word
to say in reply:
This too is.
A potential sticking point.
As the Kremlin argues.
A temporary ceasefire would.
As the Kremlin argues.
A temporary ceasefire would.
Only prolong the conflict.
And lead to renewed hostilities.
– and the US President.
Has said he understands.
‘The One’’s position.
‘The One’’s position.
she could only sit
and look at it and gasp.
she could only sit
and look at it and gasp.
‘Make a remark,’
said the Red Queen:
‘It’s ridiculous to leave all
the conversation to the pudding!’
But without such a vote.
‘Gandalf the Green’ believes.
A deal would have no validity.
Which just adds to.
The list of thorny issues.
To be resolved.
The list of thorny issues.
To be resolved.
‘Do you know,
I’ve had such a quantity of
poetry repeated to me to-day,’
Alice began,
a little frightened at finding that,
the moment she opened her lips,
there was dead silence,
and all eyes were fixed upon her;
‘Mordor’, the US.
And Ukraine agree that.
A deal on ending.
Almost four years.
Of full-scale war.
Is edging closer but.
In the words of.
The US President.
“One or two very thorny.
Very tough issues” remain.
“One or two very thorny.
Very tough issues” remain.
‘and it’s a very curious thing,
I think
– every poem was
about fishes in some way.
Do you know
why they’re so fond of fishes,
all about here?’
all about here?’
She spoke to the Red Queen,
whose answer was
a little wide of the mark.
‘As to fishes,’ she said,
very slowly and solemnly,
putting her mouth
close to Alice’s ear,
‘her White Majesty knows
a lovely riddle
– all in poetry –
all about fishes.
Shall she repeat it?’
‘Her Red Majesty’s
very kind to mention it,’
the White Queen murmured
into Alice’s other ear,
in a voice like
the cooing of a pigeon.
‘It would be such a treat! May I?’
‘Please do,’ Alice said very politely.
The White Queen laughed
with delight,
And stroked Alice’s cheek.
Then she began:
*Because I read “The ‘thorny’ issues that threaten to derail a Russia-Ukraine peace deal” by Paul Kirby on 31 Dec 2025, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem, led by ‘THROUGH the LOOKING-GLASS’ written by Lewis Carroll, you know.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
The ‘thorny’ issues that threaten to derail a Russia-Ukraine peace deal
