XHABIR DERALLA
When every minute is filled with countess horrible events and every next minute can bring news worse than then the previous ones, the notion for time becomes completely different. If hope moves man, then time, every minute passed of a war, becomes like quicksand. It first swallows hope, then life itself…
Tweet.
A great part of the citizens and political leaders on this planet seemed shocked by Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine on February 24. However, my humble opinion is that it was more of acting shocked, because the aggression was far from unexpected. And it’s not that they hadn’t known. A week after the attack, now even leaders of smaller countries like North Macedonia are sharing information that at the beginning of November it had been known that Putin was surely going to attack, as Pendarovski stated. And Zelensky in an interview for CNN revealed that his retreating statements had been a tactical move up to the last moment.
Ursula von der Leyen made several announcements on Twitter late on the night of February 26, at the end of the third day of the Russian military aggression over Ukraine. Among else, she wrote:
“First, we will commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT. It will stop them from operating worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports“.
Although I rarely engage in a dialogue on the social networks and prefer to “limit” my public communication to writing or speaking in the media, still I decided to join the 1,325 comments that Ms. Von der Leyen received in the first hours after her tweet.
“Not enough” – I wrote her – “Far, far from enough. Removing “certain Russian banks” from SWIFT is a too long game. Belated. However, it’s a bit more than pretty much nothing you have done so far. (You, meaning #ЕU). #StandWithUkraine“
Irony.
In any case, the determination of the European Union has to be noted. Even though they were muddled in the first day and a half, they showed exceptional coordination already by the end of the second day. They harmonized and sharpened the tone of their tweets. Tweets? How did that help the Ukrainians who faced the bloody aggression? Not much.
Still, having in consideration the well-known political “mentality” of the EU, the reaction was nevertheless quick as lightening, no matter how much (deserved) irony there is in this view.
Biden.
The US President was, however, quicker than the others – he introduced (some) measures three days before the invasion, immediately after the bizarre act of recognizing the “independent people’s republics” on Ukrainian soil.
Biden continued introducing measures and sanctions, first for the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in partnership with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The day when Putin’s soldiers trampled on Ukrainian soil, Biden convened the National Security Council and introduced new sanctions.
In his address to the nation on March 2 (6-th day of the aggression), Biden said that Putin would pay the price over the long run. In the meanwhile, the aggression is taking its bloody toll every minute. And all it leaves is just deep and tragic scars in the long run.
Nuclear war.
Third day of the invasion, first day of the fierce reaction in the world. On February 27, Putin ordered for the Russian nuclear forces to be put on alert. If on the day of the invasion (February 24) it wasn’t clear, now it’s already clear that we are living in a world that has changed overnight. It’s difficult to imagine a world worse than one after a nuclear war.
Destruction.
The aggression is becoming increasingly fiercer by the hour. The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili , told for CNN that she doesn’t believe that Putin is only aiming to take certain regions of Ukraine, but that he is “destroying the whole country”. Yes. That is exactly what is happening. Destruction of a whole country. What didn’t succeed for Stalin with the Holodomor, Putin wants to do so with fire, irreversibly and forever.
Victims. Protest.
At the end of the third day of the invasion, the world rose up. Millions of people took to the streets across the world. Moscow and about fifty other cities across Russia also rose up. There were already hundreds of civilian casualties then since the obvious targeting of civilian targets. Among the civilian casualties were also children. Russian grenades and missiles hit residential buildings, shopping malls, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, maternity hospitals… Million refugees in seven days… The first victim: the truth.
The whole world was late with Ukraine.
The condemnations, sharp tweets, partial bank blockades and sanctions, and even the UN Resolution, the threats with investigations for war crimes, and the millions of protestors around the world and in Russia didn’t stop Putin in continuing to destroy the country and to kill civilians. The Russian tyrant is still talking about his “fight against the neo-Nazis” of Ukraine that is led by a man of Jewish origin, whose ancestors have fallen victims to the Holocaust.
With 90% of the military forces on the borders having entered Ukraine on the eighth day of the aggression, by using weapons prohibited according to international conventions – Putin continued with destruction and killing of civilians.
“This war is for all the world”, said legendary Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for CNN, a war for democracy and freedom. But he also rightly said that the “whole world was late with Ukraine”.
Eyes open.
Russia remains in media darkness. Putin has threatened with a maximum sentence of 15 years of prison for those who will spread “fake news” on the “just special operation”, which he is conducting in Ukraine. That didn’t help him much. The dense smoke from the military fire in which little children are also dying, can no longer be hidden. It’s becoming clear to more and more people in Russia: Putin’s only allies are the lies and terror, nothing else.
Resolution.
The General Assembly of the United Nations made a surprisingly big step. At an extraordinary session on March 2, with a vast majority of the member countries (141 of the 193) it adopted a resolution strongly condemning the Russian aggression. Only Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria voted against. China and 34 more countries abstained. A historical moment that has isolated Russia for a long time from the world in every sense of the word. A huge black mark on the world map of the new dark era.
Crimes and investigations.
The International Criminal Court on March 1st launched an investigation into war and crimes against humanity. The Russian aggressors, already in the first 72 hours from the beginning of the invasion, committed numerous war crimes and grossly violated international humanitarian law, including the Geneva conventions. These crimes only increased by the hour, and this buildup of crimes continues while this text is being prepared.
When the crimes subside, punishment is expected. Which usually is lacking or is lost in the labyrinths of political negotiations, sales and resales.
That’s not enough. The international institutions and the International Criminal Court must see the proportions of the crimes that have happened in the first hours and days of the aggression. It’s now clear to every person with a sound mind of what can be expected if the Russian aggression continues and what will be happening in the occupied areas of Ukraine.
A relic of the past. Disturbed. With the hand on the big red button.
Even though the whole world has rose up against him, even the vast majority of the countries, Putin reached with his hand toward the big red button and threatened nuclear war.
He is a relic of a dark past. One Twitter user noted quite nicely that in his Cabinet there are two (otherwise there are three) old-fashioned landline telephones, having turned a bit yellow over time and a fax machine (for the younger ones, this is a long obsolete machine for sending documents down landline phones). But this is the least important, although it’s symptomatic. What is important is that it’s becoming ever more obvious that Putin has problems with his presence of mind, sense of responsibility and understanding of reality. He is deeply disturbed. Even though, I will repeat Zelensky’s position, the world is late.
How to negotiate with Putin?
How to negotiate with such a character? On the first day of the invasion, he didn’t take the phone call from Ukrainian President Zelensky. The second day he said he wanted to negotiate, but only under his conditions that meant capitulation for Ukraine. The third day he said it was no problem, he wanted to negotiate for peace. The fourth day, he reached for the red button, said that he still wanted to negotiate, but the same afternoon sent a 4.5-kilometer-long convoy of tanks to Kiev (at the time of writing this text, they are about 50 km from the capitol).
This character is as dangerous as he is mad. If someone does even decide to negotiate with him, it would be better for that person to carry bottled water, sandwiches from home and a gas mask, and certainly a bulletproof vest, because the cold psychopath from the Kremlin is known for wanting quite much to kill his opponents (with firearms, a rope or poison).
So, let’s answer the question from above – How to negotiate with Putin? The answer is: in no way. Whatever you agree with him, he will find a “good” excuse to play out the agreement. And some call that a “strategy”, but that’s a separate story (diagnosis).
A way out.
Is there a way out of the situation in which the world is in today? Theoretically, yes: For the world to learn a lesson from this dark episode that has brought it to the verge of complete destruction and to reorganize itself from the root – to become more just and peaceful.
Bitter and loud and sarcastic laughing now follows. The world will never be the same anymore. In order for it to be better, we will have to wait for the next generations to do that, who are probably not even born yet. Meaning, we won’t live to see it. Let’s hope that the Russian political Brutus will finish the job before Putin destroys the world.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
