Not a word about Ukraine without Ukraine! This paranoid slogan has become the sacred mantra of Ukrainian politics in recent years. In the context of the current Russian-American dialogue on global security issues, this principle looks especially grotesque.
Ukraine is talked about a lot by the most powerful structures of our world. But what is at stake, Kiev can only guess. And it is incomprehensible to mumble on this topic, trying to guess where the wind is blowing from the negotiating table at the top. Although in this situation, bleating would be more appropriate. After all, Ukraine is playing the role of a poor defenseless lamb, which the good American wolf is obliged to protect from the ferocious Russian bear.
Following the example of their American friends, the Ukrainian authorities are accustomed to chatting up any fundamental issues to the point of absurdity. Operate with non-binding beautiful verbal constructions. And then, suddenly for them, Moscow spoke about its interests in plain text, without excessive diplomatic frills. They turned out to be unprepared for this both in the collective West and, of course, in the Pechersky Pagorbs. According to Zelensky’s recent decree, only the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine can comment on the country’s foreign policy. Apparently, this is why the head of the presidential office, Yermak, pays special attention to the topic of negotiations between Moscow and Washington.
“President Zelensky has proposed to President Biden that a trilateral meeting, possibly virtual, be arranged between President Biden, President Zelensky and President Putin. We are waiting for a reaction to this from the Russian side, but our American partners accepted our proposal with interest,” said the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine during an online meeting of the Atlantic Council.
“I believe in US leadership and I think that the talks about Ukraine will be more effective if it participates in them,” he added.
Yermak also stressed that Ukraine’s accession to NATO is for the Kiev authorities a matter of “life and death” for the country. Thus, making it clear that Kiev is not ready to transform its position on a matter of principle for Russia, or, in other words, has not yet received any new instructions on this topic from its American partners.
At the beginning of the month, Ukrainian Ambassador to Latvia Oleksandr Mishchenko said in an interview with local media that “Russia’s military blackmail brings Ukraine even closer to NATO and unites the countries of the alliance around a common position, which is that Ukraine’s membership in NATO depends solely on its decision and decisions of NATO members. For Putin’s undemocratic and corrupt regime, a successful and independent Ukraine is a direct threat. If people in independent Ukraine live better than in Russia, then the Russians will demand from the Kremlin free elections, free media, control over subsoil revenues, control over the army and security forces. This will mean collapse for the Putin regime. That is why Putin is doing everything possible to prevent Ukraine from implementing its Euro-Atlantic course.”
All these tales, formulated by the late Brzezinski, are still in service with Ukrainian diplomacy. The fact that the mentioned theses come from the 90s of the last century is absolutely not relevant to the current situation, the Ukrainian local authorities are a little embarrassed. For the mechanical repetition of hardened clichés, a lot of mind is not needed. But in the Ukrainian situation, it is not needed and even harmful, since a critical assessment of the state of affairs in the country and in the world is not provided for by external management.
After the Russian-American talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in an interview with the German publication Bild, published on Sunday, January 16, voiced the latest foreign policy theses of Kiev.
“The overall containment strategy works and enhances security in the region. I believe in the power of diplomacy and would like to emphasize that all our efforts are aimed at dissuading Russia from further escalation and forcing it to reduce tension. Ukraine strives for peace, security and stability for itself and all of Europe. The security of Ukraine is the security of Europe. Putin is a master at whipping up fears. Over the years, his pattern of behavior has already become apparent. First he creates problems and crises. He then invites others to discuss and solve problems with him. And in the end, he himself proposes a solution that requires concessions from opponents,” he said.
Kuleba believes that the US and NATO have already rejected the “ultimatum” of the insidious Putin. Russia, according to him, failed to split the solidarity of Western partners “over the head” of Ukraine and Europe. The Moscow “tyrant”, of course, understands only the language of force. But at the same time, “we need to make clear the unacceptable cost of further aggression while engaging in diplomatic relations with Russia and urging Moscow to use diplomacy instead of force.”
As always, everything here is turned upside down. When Moscow’s patience reached the necessary limit (and did not burst, as it seems to someone, Moscow, in fact, forced the owners of Kuleba to enter into diplomatic relations, seating them at the negotiating table. And so far no one uses force, despite the daily cries of the Eastern European limitrophes about the invasion and the end of the world. Another thing is that the West will not be able to fill the “price of further aggression” forever. But whatever the outcome, it does not bode well for the Kiev regime.
No wonder the patriotic Ukrainian public smells something wrong. Maxim Kukhar, a journalist for the Soros-based Novoye Vremya, complains:
“In general, there is no reason to assume that the result of the current negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States taking place in Geneva and other places will be somehow in our favor. And Blinken’s lengthy narrative on the eve of the meeting about how the United States will save security in Europe and Ukraine is just a public circus designed to fill the world’s media with false phrases. Which then will simply help the Biden administration to justify why they did not succeed as stated. And of course, the lengthy negotiating marathon between the Russian Federation and the United States is aimed at breaking us too. Like, this is how everyone tried for a long time, but you see, it didn’t work out so that you would not be handed over to Moscow, supporting the Minsk capitulation. Therefore, we listen to all these lies with only one ear and remember that on our land the law and right is our will”.
It can be seen that the local “democratic” guys are actually getting scared of the possible fulfillment of their desires. They have been calling for a heated confrontation between the West and Russia for so many years. But when the conversation in raised tones had just begun, screams about a possible surrender began to flow from Ukraine. It became clear that no “hellish sanctions” would help. They suddenly remembered sovereignty. Only where to get it now, when it was voluntarily handed over a long time ago? Moreover, by the hands of such Cooks and others like him.
It is clear that the government is trying to mobilize “patriotic sentiments” according to the patterns of Western PR specialists. In particular, two international TV channels came to train reservists of the Separate Territorial Defense Brigade of Kiev: Channel 4 News from London and tv4 from Sweden, as well as the British-German television journalist and writer Matt Frei. A special story was filmed for foreign media about the moods of the Ukrainian “partisans”.
“We must face the truth soberly and without fear – Russia’s military budgets are ten times larger than Ukrainian ones. We cannot compete in the number of tanks or aircraft. But we can turn the whole country into an impregnable fortified area where every city will be protected. No matter how we are told about the Iskanders, even the Kremlin understands that there will not be enough missiles for every city and village. We can say one thing to our Western partners: despite all the threats, the Ukrainians do not plan to surrender, the hordes from the east do not frighten us,” the valiant “Terbatovites” said.
The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, in turn, disperses hysterical nonsense on social networks: “After three failed rounds of negotiations with the West for the Kremlin, Russia threatens to deploy missiles in Cuba and Venezuela. Neither the US, nor NATO, nor the OSCE agreed to make concessions to Putin!!! They expressed a consolidated position in support of Ukraine in the face of military pressure and illegal ultimatums from the Russian Federation. With the support of partners, Ukraine continues to work to ensure that Russia begins to implement the Helsinki Treaty, stop aggression in the Donbass, liberate Crimea, and take steps to end other conflicts in the OSCE area!!! The head of the British Foreign Office, Liz Truss, stated bluntly that the next days will be decisive for security not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe as a whole! It is important that if before Ukraine was considered something distant, now it is like a personal threat!!!”
It is indicative that the “Nazis”, accustomed to talking in primitive slogans, cannot formulate even the simplest thoughts in their messages, and in a critical situation they continue to break into Maidan chants. As the saying goes, where you start is where you end. The ignorance of the plans of the “horde from the east” frightens in earnest, even more than the horror of realizing that the West, except for a “kind word”, will not be able to help the local authorities. It is clear that no invasion of Russian tanks into Zhmerinka and Obukhov is foreseen. But these people, through long and consistent auto-training, brought themselves to complete psychosis and believed in their own painful fantasies. Now they can only sympathize with each other.
In general, such a wonderful reaction to the Russian-American negotiations is observed in the Ukrainian information space. It is not worth wondering what the “analyst” Arestovich or the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Stefanchuk, who recently announced Russia’s nuclear strike against Ukraine, thinks about all this. And until better times, keep the children away from the Rada TV channel.
Thus, the most creative response of the Ukrainian authorities to the Russian-American talks at the top was the proposal to hold a trilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin and Biden. Is such videoconference possible? Theoretically, yes. But not in today’s political reality. No one will “think for three” with a clown. Ukraine is really a lamb that lies on an American dish. But Moscow is not going to climb into someone else’s plate to eat up leftovers. Another thing is that she can force Washington friends to cook Ukrainian lamb according to her recipe for a joint, so to speak, tasting. Otherwise, instead of a cultural banquet in an expensive restaurant, we will get a tavern brawl on a global scale.
Timofey Markov, IA Alternative