What Exactly Does Putin Want?
If you don't know the answer, you shouldn't have chosen a side yet.
1) Ukraine must cease military action.
You stop shooting, we stop shooting. Presumably this includes the mutual removal of military forces from the border. Seems reasonable so far, right?
2) Ukraine must change its Constitution to enshrine neutrality (aka DO NOT JOIN NATO).
In other words, follow the Minsk Agreement that was already signed. But because Ukraine went back on their word and refused to implement it, Putin is demanding that it be embedded into the Ukrainian Constitution itself to better ensure compliance.
It should be noted that Germany, a key member of NATO, has already confirmed that there will be no membership offered to Ukraine. So all Ukraine is being asked to do is accept an already established reality. Why is this so difficult?
3) Ukraine must acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory.
This isn’t an imperialist power grab. Crimea already has a 65% Russian population, with 77% speaking the language. Only 10% even speak Ukrainian. Even according to Western media, 97% of Crimea wanted to be part of Russia. Which means Putin is simply backing the will of the Crimean people. Why won’t Ukraine?
4) Ukraine must recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (the Donbass Region) as independent states.
Again, this is something Ukraine had already agreed to when they signed the Minsk Agreement, which was signed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine in February 2015 and later endorsed by the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).
According to the provisions of the agreement, apart from establishing an immediate ceasefire in the Donbass region, the government in Ukraine agreed to make provisions for greater autonomy to Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts (Regions), the centers of rebellion, by first recognizing the right to self-government and also creating special status for the regions in the parliament. (SOURCE)
Since then, Neo-Nazis backed by the Ukrainian Government and funded by Zelensky’s billionaire campaign financier (please read my previous article covering this) have been committing an ethnic-cleansing of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. On December 2, Zelensky initiated five bills into the Ukrainian parliament that would be used to deny Donbass residents citizenship and voting rights.
Putin is not even demanding that the Donbass Region joins Russia, only that they be recognized as independent from Ukraine, so they can be free from persecution. Which, again, Ukraine had already previously agreed to but refused to follow. So… what the fuck?
Annnnnnd that’s it.
What, you thought there’d be more? Nope. These are Putin’s only demands and have been his only demands for some time. After years of Ukraine rejecting diplomacy and using that time to build up it’s military on the Russian border thanks to war-mongering NATO), Putin reluctantly invaded.
If I were him, I wouldn’t trust the Ukraine government to ever abide by any peace agreement, even one “enshrined” to their Constitution. Not at this point, based on Ukraine’s history of non-compliance, alarming partnership with Neo-Nazis, and relentless efforts to trigger World War 3, which is his demand for a no-fly zone would cause.
To best ensure long-term stability so this level of conflict cannot be repeated, I’d push to fully annex the entire region of Ukraine as part of the Russian Federation. But Putin is opting for a less heavy-handed approach and is still mercifully opting to trust Ukraine’s word instead.
Yet he’s being compared to Hitler?
But… but what about saving Ukrainian democracy…
Ukraine doesn’t have a democracy, you star-spangled dingleberries! Zelensky dissolved the Ukrainian Parliament right after he was sworn into office. He has since shut down three popular television stations associated with pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk and had his political opponent charged with treason.
There are at least 29 documented incidents of Zelensky targeting journalists, media professionals, bloggers, and individuals expressing opinions critical of the Government or mainstream narratives with some prominent Ukrainian journalists being attacked and killed by fascist, Neo-Nazi gangs.
Dissolving Parliament? Shutting down media outlets? Arresting political opponents? Restricting voting rights? Silencing, assaulting, and even killing journalists? Ethnic cleansing? You call that a democracy?
No wonder Joe Biden finds him inspiring…
This ends when President Zelensky, who is aligned with Neo-Nazis, decides to act reasonably instead of trying to paint his country as a victim of Russian aggression. And NATO needs to end the sanctions against Russia, stop arming Ukraine, and in general STOP fueling escalation immediately.
Instead of doing shit like THIS:
For the record, Tulsi Gabbard saw all this coming a year ago. And only Tucker Carlson gave her a steady platform to talk about it. I’m a non-woke Leftist with some libertarian leanings, but we must put aside political biases and applaud anyone, always, who possesses the skill of foresight and wields it to tell the truth.
For more on the Ukraine crisis, please check out my two-part comprehensive overview:
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