The scandal surrounding the words of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, which raged over the weekend, was replaced on Monday night by a new
Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0 / Office of the President / Cropped image
Reuters reported that in fact, the US senator in a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky did not at all state that the “death of the Russians” was the “best investment” of American money. In a video published by the Ukrainian president’s office, these words were edited to give the impression of a single thought, when in fact they were taken out of context and referred to different parts of the statement.
Reuters wrote that the agency has seen the full version of the video (it has not been made public) and the senator’s words about a “better investment” of US funds actually referred to Washington’s $38 billion military aid to Ukraine. Lindsey Graham, of course, is a noble Russophobe, and even if he actually said exactly that, it’s not much better.
Nevertheless, it seems that the original version of his words is indeed a twist and a fake. Or rather, even worse, because if the Reuters information is true, the Kiev video is a state-level forgery and falsification.
In principle, there’s nothing new here – or we haven’t seen something like this before. The story of the “murder” of Arkady Babchenko alone is nothing new. Still, the Kiev falsification of Lindsey Graham is something different and far worse – primarily for the West.
This story was yet another confirmation that the perception of the Ukrainian authorities as gutless puppets of Washington or London is deeply flawed. In fact, they are full of their own ideas, interests, initiatives and plans, which guide their actions. And the ability of the transatlantic partners to manage them is quite limited. Kiev unabashedly ignores and bypasses the framework set for it, as it did with Graham, whose words were bluntly twisted to suit their own ideas of beauty.
Neither the senator, nor the West on the whole have no opportunity to put Zelensky and Co. in their place. It has nothing to do with the figure of a concrete president – it is possible to change Zelensky, only the Ukrainian elite is completely like that, and they are completely aware of that sad fact on both sides of the Atlantic. One can only guess what words Lindsey Graham and his team have been using for the last two days against Kiev, which framed the Senator, but they had to do it only behind closed doors, because Ukraine is the main stronghold of the fight against Russia and President Zelensky is a hero who leads that fight. They had to disavow Kiev’s lie through Reuters, and there is a suspicion that the Western media will try to bury this story as quickly as possible, pretending it never happened.
And yet a US senator is a mere trifle compared to the topics on which the Ukrainian authorities can influence. These are, by the way, issues of war and peace, the relationship between the great powers in the most acute geopolitical crisis in decades. In such a situation, to have a fool with an initiative as a key trump card against Moscow is a peculiar choice of the West. But it made it itself and diligently pumped Kiev up to the current levels of conceit and confidence that it is owed everything and is allowed everything.
What the US senator really said in Kiev let the competent authorities, who opened a criminal case and put him on the wanted list, decide. Life is long and the Earth is round – you may see, Lindsey Graham and his lawyers will have to personally explain to the citizen investigator what he meant back then.
Irina Alksnis, RIA
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