If you study philosophy at university, you will soon come to Descartes – Cogito, ergo sum.  I think, therefore I am.  It may take some time for you to grapple with this.  (A Japanese T-shirt maker has come up with a variant: ‘I do not think.  Therefore, I do not exist.’  That appeals to me greatly.  As it should to a lot of our politicians.) 

You will have even more trouble with the Ontological Argument for the existence of God, and Kant’s celebrated refutation of it – ‘existence is not a predicate’. 

But you will not have to worry about any of this if someone asks you to deal with someone who does not exist.  They must be mad.

As I understand it, Russia by Putin denies the right of Ukraine to exist as a separate nation.  The Russians have invaded the territory called Ukraine on the footing that the nation of Ukraine is a fiction.  How can they negotiate with an entity that does not in their eyes exist?  More, how can the US ask Russia to negotiate with something that does not exist?

And more again, how can the US purport to negotiate with Russia behind the back of Ukraine – by denying the right of Ukraine to be present at the negotiation?

Are we at the position where there may be a vacancy at either end of the table?

Gaza does not exist as a separate nation according to international law.  Hamas claims to represent its people by means beyond my understanding.  But Hamas denies the right of the State of Israel to exist.  Those factors obviously constrain Israel in any dealings with Hamas.  Israel is certainly right to say that Gaza has no standing as a national polity.

Imagine the following.  The U S tells Netanyahu that Israel must negotiate with Hamas about Gaza.  And then tells him that if he does not bend to their will, they will negotiate with Hamas, and Israel will not be a party to the negotiations.

There is a song from my childhood that keeps coming back to me.  ‘A wise man builds his house upon the rock.’  The others are fools – at best.