There’s a strange narrative out there that Zelenskyy does not want peace, that Trump wants peace, and Putin might want peace. But I can tell you the following: Zelenskyy wants peace. He has said that all the time. Ukraine is the victim. Ukraine is defending. So the party that needs to be asked whether they want peace is that of the aggressor, Russia.
Zelenskyy’s argument is: Yes, we want peace, which means we need justice, and we need a peace that is truly respected as peace, and that doesn’t mean that the oppression and the war continue once we’ve prepared ourselves for peace.
Part of the problem is that Russia claims to have a right to Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and even to the parts they have not yet conquered. There are claims by Russia that these are in the Russian Constitution. Well, they’re in the Russian Constitution because Putin put them in there after he started his war. That’s the only reason they’re in the Russian Constitution.
So if Russia says—and we’ve heard this from Peskov, we’ve heard this from Lavrov, certainly from Medvedev—that they will not compromise on this, are we then saying that not only does Ukraine have to abandon any idea (which they’re not pursuing anyway right now) of reconquering these territories, but they have to vacate the parts of the territories that they are still holding, which includes cities with hundreds of thousands, even a million inhabitants? That certainly can’t be the demand, can it?
The reason Ukraine is right now not fighting an offensive but just defending is also that it preserves manpower. We see such drastic losses from Russia because Russia keeps attacking. Russia is not stopping its offensive. As long as the offensive isn’t stopped, the defense cannot just stop.
And here’s the other thing—now this is only a suspicion of mine, but it’s based on what we’ve heard from news bits here and there: Whatever Russia has done in the occupied areas has probably been very bad. What am I basing this on? I’m basing this on what the Russians did in Bucha, Irpin, and other cities that Ukraine was able to retake. I’m basing this on reports that Russia forced Ukrainians living in these areas to go to the front, that Russia is already selling properties to Russians from other areas, which means they must have either killed or evicted the Ukrainians that used to live there.
We know from reports that wherever Russian soldiers have been, gruesome things have happened. When Nazi Germany was on its last legs, what they did was eliminate all the evidence, as much as they could, of the Holocaust. I’m assuming Russia is doing similar things. They don’t want these territories back in Ukrainian hands because their war crimes might become even more visible. Now, that’s just a suspicion of mine, but it’s based on the evidence we have seen from wherever Russian occupation has lasted for a while.
Now back to the question: Who wants peace, and what does peace look like?
There’s this claim that the Ukrainian war began in 2022. It began in 2014, and it began by Russian invasion already. And after a while, there were these uneasy ceasefires, and the war continued with a full-fledged invasion in 2022. During Trump’s time, the war continued. The war wasn’t as active as it is now, granted, but I do recall Russian aggressions and active movement on the front line during that time.
Now, we’ve seen what happened last Friday in the White House. Could Zelenskyy have been a little bit more diplomatic? Maybe. Should JD Vance have been a little bit more diplomatic? Yes. That was a rather odd scene that we saw there. I don’t know what happened. I can tell that both sides are feeling shook up by that.
I assume that Trump and Vance are genuine in their demand for peace. I’m maybe being too generous here, but I know people like that. I know people in Germany like that who say, “No, no, just let the killing be stopped,” and it’s a human impulse to say, “Just stop the killing, and then we’ll sort things out later.”
The problem is that wherever Russia is in control, the killing won’t stop. It hasn’t stopped so far. We have seen what happened before the full-scale invasion in those occupied territories and at the border. This is what Zelenskyy meant. All he meant to say: “I want peace, but how do we guarantee peace? And let’s just not jump to conclusions just because we say we want peace now, that Russia is going to give us peace.”
Could that argument have been made better? Yes.
Now cooler heads need to prevail. We need to figure out how to move on from that, but to demand that the victim doesn’t get a say in whether that war is over, and it just needs to accept whatever Putin demands—that’s ludicrous. It’s inhumane, and it’s not peace. Peace without justice is no peace.
If Trump wants a foreign policy success here, it will consist in Europe owning up to this. It will need further American help, or at least America not standing in the way. He may need a little bit more patience.
I understand the urge to say, “Let’s just end the killing now.” The problem is you cannot really trust Russia, not in its current configuration, not with the current government. It is impossible to trust Russia. Putin is a proven liar. Lavrov is a proven liar. I don’t need to prove Russian lies here; there are other people doing that, and it’s a pattern throughout.
Russia is still occupying territory in Moldova, in Georgia. It’s still occupying Chechnya. It’s occupying parts of Ukraine. I mean, all of this is factual. Ukraine has not attacked anybody unprovoked, and this is simply the fact. Whatever the history, whatever other questions you may have about this, Ukraine has sought nothing but freedom and peace, and has been supported by the United States, by the European Union in this respect.
Guess why all these countries want to be in NATO? Because you cannot trust Russia. You cannot trust the Russian government. Russia is on an imperial mission. This needs to stop. So any peace can only come with a recognition that Russia needs to be stopped, and that message needs to be out there.
Does Zelenskyy want peace? Oh yes. Does Ukraine want peace? Oh yes. But a real peace, not a fake one that will only last a few months, if at all.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
[This was originally posted to YouTube as a video on 02/18. Following is a slightly abbreviated transcript, preserving the oral style of the video.]
There’s a strange narrative out there that Zelenskyy does not want peace, that Trump wants peace, and Putin might want peace. But I can tell you the following: Zelenskyy wants peace. He has said that all the time. Ukraine is the victim. Ukraine is defending. So the party that needs to be asked whether they want peace is that of the aggressor, Russia.
Zelenskyy’s argument is: Yes, we want peace, which means we need justice, and we need a peace that is truly respected as peace, and that doesn’t mean that the oppression and the war continue once we’ve prepared ourselves for peace.
Part of the problem is that Russia claims to have a right to Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and even to the parts they have not yet conquered. There are claims by Russia that these are in the Russian Constitution. Well, they’re in the Russian Constitution because Putin put them in there after he started his war. That’s the only reason they’re in the Russian Constitution.
So if Russia says—and we’ve heard this from Peskov, we’ve heard this from Lavrov, certainly from Medvedev—that they will not compromise on this, are we then saying that not only does Ukraine have to abandon any idea (which they’re not pursuing anyway right now) of reconquering these territories, but they have to vacate the parts of the territories that they are still holding, which includes cities with hundreds of thousands, even a million inhabitants? That certainly can’t be the demand, can it?
The reason Ukraine is right now not fighting an offensive but just defending is also that it preserves manpower. We see such drastic losses from Russia because Russia keeps attacking. Russia is not stopping its offensive. As long as the offensive isn’t stopped, the defense cannot just stop.
And here’s the other thing—now this is only a suspicion of mine, but it’s based on what we’ve heard from news bits here and there: Whatever Russia has done in the occupied areas has probably been very bad. What am I basing this on? I’m basing this on what the Russians did in Bucha, Irpin, and other cities that Ukraine was able to retake. I’m basing this on reports that Russia forced Ukrainians living in these areas to go to the front, that Russia is already selling properties to Russians from other areas, which means they must have either killed or evicted the Ukrainians that used to live there.
We know from reports that wherever Russian soldiers have been, gruesome things have happened. When Nazi Germany was on its last legs, what they did was eliminate all the evidence, as much as they could, of the Holocaust. I’m assuming Russia is doing similar things. They don’t want these territories back in Ukrainian hands because their war crimes might become even more visible. Now, that’s just a suspicion of mine, but it’s based on the evidence we have seen from wherever Russian occupation has lasted for a while.
Now back to the question: Who wants peace, and what does peace look like?
There’s this claim that the Ukrainian war began in 2022. It began in 2014, and it began by Russian invasion already. And after a while, there were these uneasy ceasefires, and the war continued with a full-fledged invasion in 2022. During Trump’s time, the war continued. The war wasn’t as active as it is now, granted, but I do recall Russian aggressions and active movement on the front line during that time.
Now, we’ve seen what happened last Friday in the White House. Could Zelenskyy have been a little bit more diplomatic? Maybe. Should JD Vance have been a little bit more diplomatic? Yes. That was a rather odd scene that we saw there. I don’t know what happened. I can tell that both sides are feeling shook up by that.
I assume that Trump and Vance are genuine in their demand for peace. I’m maybe being too generous here, but I know people like that. I know people in Germany like that who say, “No, no, just let the killing be stopped,” and it’s a human impulse to say, “Just stop the killing, and then we’ll sort things out later.”
The problem is that wherever Russia is in control, the killing won’t stop. It hasn’t stopped so far. We have seen what happened before the full-scale invasion in those occupied territories and at the border. This is what Zelenskyy meant. All he meant to say: “I want peace, but how do we guarantee peace? And let’s just not jump to conclusions just because we say we want peace now, that Russia is going to give us peace.”
Could that argument have been made better? Yes.
Now cooler heads need to prevail. We need to figure out how to move on from that, but to demand that the victim doesn’t get a say in whether that war is over, and it just needs to accept whatever Putin demands—that’s ludicrous. It’s inhumane, and it’s not peace. Peace without justice is no peace.
If Trump wants a foreign policy success here, it will consist in Europe owning up to this. It will need further American help, or at least America not standing in the way. He may need a little bit more patience.
I understand the urge to say, “Let’s just end the killing now.” The problem is you cannot really trust Russia, not in its current configuration, not with the current government. It is impossible to trust Russia. Putin is a proven liar. Lavrov is a proven liar. I don’t need to prove Russian lies here; there are other people doing that, and it’s a pattern throughout.
Russia is still occupying territory in Moldova, in Georgia. It’s still occupying Chechnya. It’s occupying parts of Ukraine. I mean, all of this is factual. Ukraine has not attacked anybody unprovoked, and this is simply the fact. Whatever the history, whatever other questions you may have about this, Ukraine has sought nothing but freedom and peace, and has been supported by the United States, by the European Union in this respect.
Guess why all these countries want to be in NATO? Because you cannot trust Russia. You cannot trust the Russian government. Russia is on an imperial mission. This needs to stop. So any peace can only come with a recognition that Russia needs to be stopped, and that message needs to be out there.
Does Zelenskyy want peace? Oh yes. Does Ukraine want peace? Oh yes. But a real peace, not a fake one that will only last a few months, if at all.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
[This was originally posted to YouTube as a video. This post is a slightly abbreviated transcript, preserving the oral style of the video.]
Erratic Attempts 