Maria Popova 🇨🇦

🇨🇦⚜️ polisci prof @mcgillu, Director Jean Monnet Centre Montreal; Rule of law, anticorruption, democracy; Book on Ru-Ukraine War:

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

Our book isn't straightforwardly about "war and peace", but about the regime and identity divergence between Ru and Ukraine, which Ru refuses to accept. We'll take the "hot new releases" label, though! Thanks, Amazon. @OxanaShevel @politybooks

[Nik Stankovic @nikstankovic_]

Vucic won his first election on an anti-corruption platform (Styrofoam Revolution).

As did the people before him (who he rightfully accused of corruption) when they overthrew Milosevic (Bulldozer Revolution).

Milosevic also ran on an anti-corruption campaign (Anti-bureaucratic Revolution).

See a pattern? "It's different this time". If you are a 20 year old student.

[Johanna Nyman @JohannaNyman5]

Anyone with even a basic understanding of Russia knows this is true. Those blaming Ukraine’s supporters for prolonging the war have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about.

[Paul Niland @PaulNiland]

If this comes as a surprise to you, I've told you this 20 times.

The rest of Donetsk is NOT the peace deal.

It's the starting point for russian demands. Those demands (accept or we go back to war) will include demands from the EU and NATO.

Plus russian immunity for war crimes.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@AdiG15810331 wow, very profound. Now the Nazis are all in russia, though

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

Repeat after me: Russia has no legitimate security concerns; only its neighbours do. Russia has been the only one invading others.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@JojoNewZ Ru leaves its borders unattended to focus on conquering a neighbour; keeps prodding NATO members, unafraid of a response; NATO's afraid to help Ukr defence directly but Ru is supposedly scared it'll get invaded. How terminally Ru-propagandized does one have to be to buy this?

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@BCdrainoty if you don't know where the supposed coup even happened, don't opine

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@JensenVero64278 Ru leaves its borders unattended to focus on conquering a neighbour; keeps prodding NATO members, unafraid of a response; NATO's afraid to help Ukr defence directly but Ru is supposedly scared it'll get invaded. How terminally Ru-propagandized does one have to be to buy this?

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@RealGPang Yeah, all the thieves get mad when neighbours get locks. Still doesn't make their anger legitimate.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@stationd5 the USSR occupied half of Europe against their will after WWII, buddy. Maybe you skipped that lesson in elementary school

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@SchiavoPet21964 Skipping the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, I see. Get lost.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

Ru leaves its borders unattended to focus on conquering a neighbour; keeps prodding NATO members, unafraid of a response; NATO's afraid to help Ukr defence directly but Ru is supposedly scared it'll get invaded. How terminally Ru-propagandized does one have to be to buy this?

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@tkpearson Do you have a point? He will also talk about the 9th century, I'm sure. He'll tell a thousand silly lies, maybe including the one you mention that NATO is attacking Ru. So what. What's the goal of your hand waving other than to undermine the obvious facts I stated?

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

Any talks/negotiations about a post-war security arrangement for Europe need to start from the indisputable fact that Russia’s neighbours have an acute need of protection from Russia whereas Russia has no demonstrable need for protection (and it already has nukes for that).

[✙ Constantine ✙ @Teoyaomiquu]

If defending yourself is prolonging the war, then what is attacking you? A peace initiative?

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

A little story about how dehumanizing the russian state is and how passive/docile russian society is, devoid of any efficacy and agency. Putting any hope on russian society ending the war or demanding deimperialization or democracy after Putin is gone is extremely naive.

[Roman Anin @RomanAnin]

1/ After most Western journalists had to leave Russia in 2022, the country became a terra incognita. It is hard to get credible information out of it, let alone get Russians on camera speaking frankly about what they think. 🧵

[Alexander Dubowy @dubowy_alex]

Absolutely. No one should mistake Moscow’s proposal to involve Europe for a sign that Russia has suddenly come to its senses. Quite the contrary.

What Ushakov is effectively referring to is Russia’s ultimatum to NATO in December 2021, demanding, among other things, a rollback of NATO’s military deployments in Europe to their 1997 levels.

In other words, Moscow wants Europe involved not to accommodate European interests, but to impose its own demands not only on Ukraine but on Europe as well.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Zelenskyy: Russia already has an army of around 2M. No country in Europe has an army ready for such a fight. I'm not talking about people, I'm talking about armies.

That is why Europe needs a strong Ukraine as part of NATO, on its eastern flank — Hudson Institute. 1/

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

And most of the Russian soldiers aren't even conscripts but contract.

[Stanislav Aseyev @AseyevStanislav]

Russian conscripts have a choice:

1. Overthrow Putin’s regime;
2. Flee the country before conscription;
3. Go to prison;
4. Surrender as soon as they end up on the front.

Instead, they choose to invade another country and kill.

Honestly, there’s already no point in reacting to the stupidity of the current American administration and its lobbyists.

A Russian conscript is not a lonely island in an ocean of madness. He is an integral part of the Russian ecosystem of terror that once drove a mine fragment into my neck and will gladly do it again and again.

[Tymofiy Mylovanov @Mylovanov]

Zelenskyy: I offered the US three options if they want us to stop hitting Russian refineries:

1. Russia stops attacking our energy.

2. Open Starlink over Russian ballistic missile launch sites.

3. Give us Patriot missiles.

We got none. Instead, Starlink was restricted.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@ChumThumb How stupid exactly are you? Why should the country that Russia invaded twice in a decade accept neutrality and limits to its army?? To make it easier for Russia to conquer them? Russia is the one that needs to have its army limited.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

The number of bullshit narratives about Ukraine is already too large but the latest-- Putin offered to withdraw all Ru troops in 2023 but Zelensky refused-- breaks the bullshit-o-meter! It tops "Boris Johnson forced Ukrainians to fight" in lack of logic and situational awareness.

[Maria Popova 🇨🇦 @PopovaProf]

@mattypark2 @jpgerard64 I wrote a whole book about it. Go read it. I doubt you will. And I see zero evidence you're arguing in good faith.