Not all Presidents have courage and army like Biden
President Joe Biden and U.S. foreign and defense ministers Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin met their Ukrainian counterparts for the first time to discuss how “to fortify Ukraine’s ability to fight back Russian aggression”. Joe Biden risked the wrath of Vladimir Putin by offering Ukraine extra military support. He said Europe must end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels and the United States will help. He noted the American forces are in Europe — not in Europe to engage in conflict with Russian forces and American forces are there to defend NATO Allies. Biden said Russia’s economy is on track to be cut in half in the coming years and it will soon not even rank among the top 20 in the world.
As among Moldovans: some say “yes”, others say “no”…
U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a butcher who cannot remain in power” after meeting with Ukrainian refugees in Poland, and said he was unconvinced by Russia’s claim it was scaling down its war aims in neighboring Ukraine.
The Kremlin said Biden’s branding of Putin as a “butcher” lowered the chances for an improvement in ties between Moscow and Washington.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned Sunday against a verbal “escalation” of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, after US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a “butcher”.
Madeleine Albright anticipated
One month before she died, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine would be a “historic error.” Albright, who died of cancer at 84 on Wednesday, wrote a final op-ed for The New York Times headlined “Putin is Making a Historic Mistake” on Feb. 23, on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “What is sure to be a bloody and catastrophic war will drain Russian resources and cost Russian lives,” she wrote. “Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would ensure Mr. Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face of a stronger, more united Western alliance”.
Ceasefire and end of aggression for lifting sanctions
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said sanctions imposed on Russian individuals and companies could be lifted if Russia withdraws from Ukraine and commits to end aggression, the Telegraph newspaper reported.
“And also, there’s the opportunity to have snapback sanctions if there is further aggression in future,” she said. “That is a real lever that I think can be use”
Stigmatization of the Russian language
The use of the Russian language has never been a problem in Ukraine, but the Russian occupants now do their best for the Ukrainians never to use it again, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a video message that was published on the YouTube channel of the President’s Office on March 26.
“Russia itself is doing everything to ensure that de-Russification takes place on the territory of our state,” Zelensky said.
Russia “cancelled” by Putin
Vladimir Putin slammed so-called cancel culture in the West and said it was “impossible to imagine” such a thing happening in Russia.
The Russian president cited “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling as someone who had been canceled because of her stance on sex and gender rights.
In his televised speech, Putin said: “They are now trying to cancel our whole 1,000-year old country, our people. I’m talking about the progressive discrimination of everything to do with Russia.”
Rowling responded on Twitter by writing: “Critiques of Western cancel culture are possibly not best made by those currently slaughtering civilians for the crime of resistance, or who jail and poison their critics,” with the hashtag “IStandWithUkraine.”
What shall we do? Answer to eternal Russian question
The Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau published an article saying Russia actually declared a war on the West.
He noted Ukraine should be provided with all the weapons it needs to fight back against the Russian aggressor. The U.S. should launch a rapid rearmament of its allies and partners, including Ukraine, and incentivize it with a new lend-lease program. The United States’ allies throughout the world must increase their investments in deterrence and defense. Third, NATO should immediately boost its forward military presence on its Eastern flank in Europe. The sanctions should not be lifted until Russia pays war reparations. Also, the international community must prepare a plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine by using the billions of dollars available in the confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs who supported and financed Putin’s aggressive policies.
Recipe “divide et impera”, there and now
Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, believes that Russia will try to impose a ‘Korean’ scenario on Ukraine and gather all the occupied territories into a single quasi-state entity. “After their failures near Kyiv and inability to overthrow Ukraine's central government, Putin is already shifting his main operational directions - now it is the south and the east. He may be considering a ‘Korean’ scenario for Ukraine. He will try to impose a dividing line between the unoccupied and occupied regions of our country,” said the general.
