Yesterday, 24 February 2024, marked two years on the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, the chapters of which are yet being evolving. The balance, however, appears to tip in favour of Russia. The reason the war still rages on owes to the senselessness of the western powers led by the US and its European allies who insist on inundating Ukraine with money, arms and military expertise, with the aim of hindering any Russian military victory on the battlefield. Even though some might believe the West to be actually empathetic with the Ukrainian people, the frightful truth lies in the diabolic contest between the western camp with its military arsenal on one side, and the eastern camp and its military arsenal on the other, whoever may triumph in the end. Sadly, a hind look at the events of that war reveals that, during the first and second years of the conflict, the two sides were on the verge of agreeing through international mediators to end the battles and sit to the negotiation table. Yet, pressured by US-European arrogance, belligerence, and a determination to defeat Russia, Ukraine withdrew from every negotiation possible. Even so, as I already mentioned, the balance of power is tipping in favour of Russia. To say nothing of evidence of a decline in the outpour of aid flowing from the West to Ukraine, with a number of European countries complaining of the extended war, and saying they are exhausted by the growing demands of Ukraine.
Today, I reopen the Russia-Ukraine War file, for more than one reason. First, interest in the war in Ukraine has waned since the Israel Hamas War in Gaza, which started last October and is still raging on; the eyes of our region and the entire world have turned to the events unfolding in Gaza rather than those taking place in Ukraine. Second, two years have passed on the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, so it is fitting to shed light on its latest developments. In this context, I recall that in March 2022 I wrote under the title “What Putin says on the Russia-Ukraine crisis”, about the reasons behind this war. One year later, in March 2023, I wrote “One year on the Russia-Ukraine war: A reading in Putin’s speech”. Today, two years on the outbreak on the war in February 2022, I present a reading in an interview recently conducted by American journalist Tucker Carlson with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. During the interview, President Putin explained the ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine War, and gave his assessment of the war and an outlook for possible scenarios to end it.
I believe that Carlson’s interview with President Putin represents the most important testimony on the history of the Russia-Ukraine War as seen by the Russian side.
The interview started with Mr Putin giving a detailed review of the historical background of Russia and its formation ever since the ninth century, and the truth behind the historic relation between Ukraine and Russia until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 when its leader Vladimir Lenin offered the lands of the Donbas region to Ukraine, which resulted in the start of dialogue and friendship between Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Putin reminded of what took place between him and former US President Bill Clinton in 2000, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the era of détente between Russia and the West. President Clinton appreciated the idea of welcoming Russia into NATO, but made a turnaround and renounced to it after consulting with his aides. The same scenario was repeated with President George W. Bush in 2008, Mr Putin said.
Mr Putin talked of the anti-missile defence plan that the West has been threatening Russia with. He said that he offered Russia’s participation with the West in establishing a joint missile defence project, which George W. Bush agreed to then turned back and rejected. This prompted Russia to move forward with establishing its own missile defense project separate from the West; this being the hypersonic defence missiles it now owns; to date the West owns nothing like it, President Putin said.
Mr Putin talked about NATO’s expansion into the territories of countries that had broken away from the Soviet Union, despite explicit promises to the contrary by NATO. This expansionism persisted from 1994 until 2008 in five waves that ended with the announcement of the acceptance of both Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. This was soon followed by the establishment of NATO military bases close to Russian borders, which compelled Putin, in late 2021, to warn against its consequences.
President Putin reviewed the rabid western efforts to interfere in Ukrainian elections from 2004 to 2014, which resulted in orchestrating a military coup that overthrew the legitimately elected president Viktor Yanukovych, and set off battles to liberate southeast Ukraine by armed force.
Mr Putin then said that Russia does not refuse to sit to the negotiation table with Ukraine, which both countries had agreed on in Istanbul under Turkish sponsorship. But Ukraine, he pointed out, withdrew upon instructions from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson upon directives by the US.
During the interview with Mr Carlson, President Putin said that defeating Russia in Ukraine is “impossible, by definition”. He said that Russia is the largest country in the world and does not need land from others; its 150 million people own wealth and resources counted among the world’s largest. Russia, he said, has every right to take all measures to ensure its sovereignty and protect itself against the infiltration of hostile forces close to its borders, threatening its national security. This, he said, is something Russia repeatedly warned against. In that light, Mr Putin said, all the measures Russia has taken in its war against Ukraine were aimed at securing its borders against threatening western encroachment.
Watani International
25 February 2024