This will not end any time soon. And the longer
this activity continues, the greater the threat to world stability and peace. Already, the world
economy has been disrupted and people will
only continue to suffer economic and personal hardship. When issuing his remark concerning
Peter the Great's conquest of Sweden and his desire to re-establish a historic union, Putin not only further terrorized the world but actually declared 'the end of the unipoloar world..'46
And cracks are starting to appear in the
alliance: head of the Italian energy giant Eni signed a deal to buy Russian gas; the western
coalition agreed to a historic but incomplete oil embargo, signaling gas sanctions would probably not be forthcoming; Kissinger has stated territory may need to be given over if the war is to end, something Biden recently acknowledged may well be the outcome if there is to be a negotiated settlement that will put an end to this protracted crisis;47 and, of course, there is Macron, who is reported to have asked Ukraine to make concessions to allow Putin to save face, stating that he does not believe Russia should be ‘humiliated by the end of the war’.48 Moreover, you have China entering the fray as it worries about how the strengthening of the western alliance will affect its prospects for consolidating power in the Asian Pacific.
What these concerns and actions reveal, more than anything else, is that Ukraine’s fate and
definitional sovereignty is once again being determined by forces outside its borders – yet
another ironic twist, given this was the initial aim of Russia. But this, again, is the goal and
endgame of Putin: terrorize, disrupt, move. Fortunately, Ukraine is having none of it; and the world has to give Zelensky credit for focusing the western liberal world on what really matters: when offered safe passage to another country at the start of the invasion by
the United States, Zelensky responded, “I need ammunition, not a ride;” when Kissinger suggested Ukraine cede territory to Russian, Zelensky responded, “Kissinger’s calendar is not 2022, but 1938” when the Munich
Agreement allowed Nazi Germany to annex
land in western Czechoslovakia and that
behind such suggestions are always ‘great geopoliticians’ who don’t see ordinary people and fail to understand that there are “millions of
those who actually live in the territory they
propose to exchange for the illusion of peace;” when the West proposed a staged embargo on oil and gas, Zelensky responded, “We are not guinea pigs to be experimented on;” when Macron suggested it was important not to “humiliate” Russia so that “the day fighting stops it would be possible to develop an exit ramp through diplomatic means,” Zelensky responded, ““I don’t really understand . . . humiliating Russia. For eight years they have been killing us. What are we talking about here?”; and, when Zelensky heard of attempts by some western allies to explore the terms of a ceasefire without involving Kyiv, he responded, “there cannot be talks behind Ukraine’s back anytime. How can we achieve a ceasefire on the territory of Ukraine without listening to the position of this country?”49
What Zelensky understands all too well from
The attack on the West will not end until Russia retreats to pre-invasion boundaries and Putin is removed from office, because threats deterred today will become new threats tomorrow. Putin is a terrorist, leading a terroristic state. He needs to go.
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