“From my experience of Putin, please, do not be afraid of him.”
US and NATO aid will help push back Russia says former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko adding “buying time” in 2014 was crucial to Putin’s defeat in the siege of Kyiv.
April 26, 2024
I wish Petro could help the AFU with his knowledge, but Zelensky hates him. š¤
Mike I have a question regarding both Poroshenko and Zelenskyy that you may help me understand knowing youāre a big Petro fan, frankly so am I.
During Poroschenkoās term in office we were fighting a war with Russia (whether it was acknowledged or not) yet Poroshenko seemed to do little to bolster our defense capabilities. In fact just prior to the invasion in 22ā I kept hearing that we didnāt have any significant ammo producing plants in Ukraine (donāt know if thatās true just stuff I kept hearing at the time). Zelensky came in thinking he can negotiate a deal with Putin, which quickly ended after Zelensky met Putin. But after that meeting he also didnāt seem to do much to bolster our ability to defend ourselves.
Speaking out of school I donāt see redeeming value for either individual where it came to understanding our enemy and preparing for what would surely happen. Iām not suggesting both suck, not at all, they each did some good things, only that it seems, where it came to anticipating and preparing for a war, that it wasnāt one of their priorities.
Mike I have no axe to grind with either individual, only trying to get a better understanding.
Thanks
I wouldn’t blame Petro. Ukraine did not have the money during his term to produce large ammounts of arms. Petro even donated some of his private money to the AFU. The West refused to send lethal arms or components not to anger Putin and Gazprom. The largest Ukrainian arms producer was forced to sell alot of its hardware abroad to not go bankrupt. The to this day ongoing rampant corruption in Ukraine did the rest to spoil any progress. Zelensky did next to nothing to negotiate a deal, he provoked Putler into the full scale invasion with his Crimean Platform, which was bullshit without the necessary military backup from the beginning. Before the war started Zelensky and the AFU failed to seal the border with Crimea, allowing the invaders to get into southern Donbas in no time. Also the border with Belarus was not sealed, despite the fact that heavy ruSSian weapons were spotted there weeks before. Zelensky even claimed Putin would not attack and that such reports were fake news and damaging Ukraine’s economy. Zelensky had zero military or political experience when he took office, very bad during wartime. Putin knew this and took advantage of it. Under his watch even captured Wagners were free to escape or were exchanged. Zelensky may grow on his task, hopefully. My five cents, Cap.
Thanks Mike
I think this assessment hits the nail on the head.
I would like to add that I think it wasn’t just the Crimean Platform that made Putin decide to pull the trigger, but the arrest of Medvedchuk and taking offline his tv channels.
This made Putin loose hope he could win the information warfare in Ukraine.
I think Porochenko knew exactly how far he could go when confronting oligarchs. Zelensky did not have this skill.
^bert
āFrom my experience of Putin, please, do not be afraid of him.ā
Such words are unnecessary with people like us, but crucial for a lot of Western politicians.