"Most of the world is calling for diplomacy," Chomsky said.
"Right now the prospects [of peace talks] look dim. But that may change as a clearer understanding of the available options develops. Small steps might prepare the way for broader settlement. Diplomacy often works that way."
Chomsky noted that proposals for a diplomatic settlement have been offered and peace initiatives started — primarily by China, South Africa, the Vatican and the Kiev government — and most of them follow the general outlines of the Minsk agreements.
"China has offered its proposals, based on the principle that ‘the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries must be effectively upheld,’ including Ukraine, as high Chinese officials have emphasized," he said.
Chomsky also said that two leading international relations scholars, Benjamin Schwarz and Christopher Layne, outlined their suggestions in Harper’s Magazine.
"Others have been proposed. Most follow the general outlines of the Minsk agreements, which - it should be recalled - were unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council," he said.
Chomsky said he cannot predict with any confidence how long the Ukraine conflict will last and what will be its outcome because there are "too many imponderables."
"All I can try to do is lay out the options. Either there will be a diplomatic settlement or there will not," he said. "If not, there are two possibilities. Either the war will enter a stalemate, perhaps with mutual butchering as in Bakhmut (Artemovsk), or one side will capitulate. Russia has unlimited ways to escalate if facing defeat. The United States, of course, has so as well. The rest is conjecture with little solid basis. It depends on human decisions."