Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin will bring neither a meeting nor peace.
It is a shrewd information operation to which Putin has no good response other than continuing the war.
At this stage, however, that works more to Ukraine’s advantage than to Russia’s.
And Putin knows that if his authority collapses, he will fall with it, and Russia will be forced to abandon its imperial wars.
Zelenskyy’s letter should be a signal to all of Ukraine’s friends: now is the time to apply decisive pressure on Russia so that it recognizes the failure of its strategic objectives.
Ever since Putin’s 2022 blitzkrieg failed, his theory of victory has rested on a single assumption: that time was on its side, and that sooner or later the West would offer at the negotiating table what Moscow could not achieve on the battlefield.
Now, as that illusion fades, the Kremlin is escalating tensions with NATO in a last attempt to lure the West into a negotiation trap, fracture support for Ukraine, and divert us from our course.
We see this strategy for what it is. And our message remains: the only way to end the suffering is simple: end the aggression, withdraw behind Russia’s internationally recognized borders, and stay there.
After every Russian escalation into a NATO country we hear leaders repeating the mantra "We stand with..."
But we could do much more than standing around.
For example — we could create a European-Ukrainian defense union. Fund it with confiscated Russian frozen assets. Close the skies in Ukraine, making Ukraine and other frontline states safer.
These things are very possible and this work could start today.
Instead, I am sadly reminded of how Britain and France “stood with” Poland in 1939 while that country was being dismembered. It was called the Phony War, because mere declarations of “support” mean very little on the ground, and do nothing to prevent real war.
Actions always speak louder than words, and usually cost much less than inaction.
The Russian bombing of Ukraine last night should convince Europe to finally close the skies over at least most of Ukraine.
Europe can no longer allow Ukraine to suffer alone.
Zelenskyy: When somebody says Ukraine should withdraw, please try to withdraw from your own house.
We never speak about Ukrainian territories just like about territories. It is not only land. It is our history, families, roots, children qnd houses.
Claims that Russia is preparing to attack the Baltic states, and thus NATO, are based on unfounded speculation and in effect play into Russia’s information warfare.
The early-warning systems of the Baltic states and NATO as a whole are working very well. We know what our adversary is doing and planning. We saw months in advance how the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was being prepared.
Today we see nothing even remotely similar directed toward NATO. But we will not lose our vigilance. Our first objective is to help Ukraine achieve victory. This must be the first priority of the entire Western world. Russia must lose.
Russia is freezing Ukraine on purpose. Targeting power and heating in sub-zero temperatures is terrorism against civilians — and a war crime. Condemnation is not enough: justice must follow. A Special Tribunal, compensation, and real protection for Ukrainians — now. 🇺🇦⚖️
https://t.co/LxRRuWzkLC
Russia, having embarked on a path of major war, will not be stopped by diplomatic rhetoric that negotiators in Geneva try to craft to appease the Kremlin, but by real power and deterrence. European states have the opportunity to stop subsidizing the Russian war machine by immediately ending purchases of Russian energy and by putting frozen assets to use in support of Ukraine.
The Russians are peddling the narrative around the world that Ukraine allegedly cannot defend itself. They are saying that Ukrainian warriors cannot defend themselves.
The daily combat results of the Ukrainian army, our special forces, and deep strikes – these are all proof that Ukraine can defend its interests.
Now every eliminated Russian occupier, every replenishment of our exchange fund for Ukraine, every Russian assault Ukrainians have repelled, every piece of destroyed Russian equipment, every deep strike we carry out – these are all arguments showing that it’s worth standing with Ukraine, worth helping Ukraine, and that it is not Ukraine that must be pressured for peace, but Russia – the sole reason this war drags on.
Kaja Kallas:
If we want to prevent this war to continue, then actually we should curb the army of Russia and also their military budget.
Because if you're spending 38% of your total budget on military, then you will want to use it again.
The ”peace plan” for Ukraine is a chatastrophy not only for Ukraine and it’s citizens but for all of democratic world. If we repeat the mistakes from the past such as showing weakness and ignorance in 2014 when Russia annaxed Crimea, we will find only more aggression and conflicts ahead of us. The authoritarian mindset understands only strenght and deterrence.
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Help the Ukrainian military.
You can do it from almost anywhere in the world.
If the U.S. leadership doesn’t grasp what kind of devil it’s flirting with - and what abyss it’s dragging the world into - that doesn’t mean ordinary people of common sense and good will are blind or stopped distinguishing between good and evil.
The 24 points presented by White House 🇺🇸 to 🇺🇦 for agreement with 🇷🇺 is a collection of the shameful, the naive and the absurd. https://t.co/CBmpxYPkP3
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas:
Right now, Russia does not want to negotiate at all. Every time the world reaches out, Russia responds with missiles. Russia's latest attacks make abundantly clear that Russia is pressing with war. And this pattern keeps repeating.
Garry Kasparov unleashes the truth: putin’s war is pure survival, not strategy.
Garry Kasparov nails it: putin isn't some rational leader. He's a dictator obsessed with staying in power for 25 years and counting. This war? It's his life support, infecting every part of Russia. Forget ideology, he is a one-man mafia boss, desperate to project strength. He won't stop until he declares 'victory,' which he can't get, so he'll just keep expanding the war. He literally couldn't care less about how many Russians die as long as he controls Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Trump even offered him an 'out' twice, and putin rejected it because it would make him look weak - and weakness means the whole flock turns on him. He's even eyeing a test of NATO's Article 5 and hoping his far-right buddies take over Europe.
The West's slow reaction and constant reliance on America has just emboldened him.
Kasparov is right, the only thing that changes Russia is a Ukrainian victory, and fast.
Garry Kasparov: I hate starting to talk with criticism but this time I have to point out that your question basically repeated the same mistake in evaluation because you tried to analyze putin’s actions from the position of the responsible national leader.
Everything you said is absolutely correct.
vladimir's putin’s rule is devastating for Russia and I believe it will end to the collapse of the Russian Empire which is long overdue.
But vladimir putin’s calculations are not based on this rational thinking. His view is very different. He is in power for 25 years and counting. That’s all that matters for him. He’s a dictator and he works for one thing: only survival.
He’s still there. And the war has become the only way to keep him in power. War now is in every layer of Russian society, from the very top of the government to industries all the way down to kindergartens. It’s infected by the war virus and that's how putin stays in power.
Interviewer: So that makes him different from let's say Soviet leaders or or even some of the tsar’s right?
Again you should look at Soviet leaders based on the political momentum, just obviously Soviet leaders that we remember, you and me, so like Brezhnev, they had different calculations. But also don't forget the Soviet leaders after Stalin. They were ruling the country that had strong ideology and communist party.
I'm not here to advocate for the communist party or for any kind of ideology but there's a fundamental difference between the party rule which is a mafia structure and the one man dictatorship.
putin shifted Russia to a one man dictatorship where everything depends on an individual who is on the top of power, who becomes at certain time a spine of the whole system. And this system depends on his survival, demonstrating his strengths is to be a macho, to be an alpha, surrounded by other mafia bosses.
And that's why, you know, his current position today is, you may call it desperate, but I don't think he he sees it the same way.
He will continue the war as long as he has the resources. And this is something that the free world is just getting to understand. That was my main criticism to the west.
vladimir putin, for a long time was at open war, those were hybrid at the time with the free world.
And the free world, and especially Europe, was not willing to hear the messages, to see the messages and to respond accordingly.
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