February 25, 2022

Diane Francis

This is an additional newsletter to deal with breaking news.)

Russia finally attacked Ukraine after circling, snarling, and baring its teeth for months at its intended victim because Ukraine’s “friends” stood on the sidelines. None came forward to help injure or shoot the beast. They issued threats of sanctions, in the hopes of preventing the assault, then topped these up as the predator approached and gathered strength. But none lived up to the “swift and severe” measures promised by the Americans. They watched, like timid voyeurs, and abandoned Ukraine. Good luck, they said, here are some weapons, but you can’t join our military alliance, and we hope you win. Sorry. Better luck next lifetime.

The US abandoned Ukraine: China’s official newspaper Global Times Feb. 24, 2022

With “friends” like that, who needs enemies? Frankly, the 1,700 brave anti-war protesters in Russia who have demonstrated – and been arrested and face a one-way ticket to a gulag for years —  have more courage, more morality, and more empathy for Ukraine than do its so-called “friends” in the U.S. or among the divided European “cat herd” it attempts to wrangle. Most egregious of all is the broken promise to protect Ukraine from invasion, sworn to by the U.S. and United Kingdom in 1994 in return for Ukraine’s agreement to hand over its nuclear arsenal after it left the Soviet Union.

The day after the invasion, televised all over the world, Putin made his move and offered to negotiate a surrender with Ukraine, providing it agrees to remain politically neutral and to fully disarm. On February 25, an emotional President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a broadcast to his people: “I remain in the capital with my people. they want to destroy the country politically, terminating its head of state. Russia wants to discuss our neutrality. I’ve told all our partners the fate of our nation is being decided. I ask them are you with us? They answer that they are. But they are not ready to take us into the alliance. We are not afraid of Russia, we are not afraid to talk with Russia, talk about everything: security guarantees for our country and neutral status. But we are not in NATO now – what security guarantees will we have? And what countries will provide them? We must talk about the end of this invasion. We must talk about a ceasefire. Right now, our fate rests entirely with our military.”

Putin’s offer followed President Joe Biden’s announcement of stepped-up sanctions – serious but none draconian enough. He also told the press conference that his herd of cats (namely Germany) were still debating whether to slam Putin personally with sanctions and some Europeans (read Germany and France) did not want to boot Russia’s financial institutions from the SWIFT global interbank transfer system. It was also disappointing to hear America’s idealistic, decent President suggest that “America stands up to bullies” when the political reality is that American politicians haven’t stuck by their 1994 security guarantee to Ukraine and won’t stand up to bullies if the price of gasoline reaches $10 a gallon.

Ukraine’s biggest enemies are the pathologically feckless Europeans, many co-opted by Putin. Their political leaders accept directorships at Russian enterprises and their governments welcome dirty money from Ruskies who buy Golden Visas to gain entry to the European Union or to buy luxury condos, yachts, and cars. Frankly, “swift and severe sanctions” should be imposed on these predators too and on tax havens like Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland, Britain, the Caribbean, and Delaware or South Dakota that hide ill-gotten gains made by the world’s dictators and despots and crooks.

It doesn’t take a cortex to figure out what should happen next. Either the West mans up and militarily intervenes, which it won’t, or it imposes crushing sanctions on Russia to try and cause economic pain and social unrest there. But this is a long game, and Ukraine cannot repel a full onslaught of Russian tanks and troops. So markets increased after Biden’s toothless announcement because the ordeal is likely to end soon.

But punishment must continue against Russia. Sanctions must be slapped on Putin, his gang, and on every Russian listed on Forbes top 1,000, from Anglicized frontmen like [Roman] Abramovich of Londongrad to Oleg Deripaska of Kentucky and DC infamy. These people are deputized by Putin which is why punishing and banning them from playing or living or investing in the West should be a priority. This elite has harvested trillions from the wealth owed to Russia’s 140 million abused citizens as well those living in its former “colonies” such as Ukraine.

The West must also pillory people like former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder who is Chairman of Russia’s Gazprom and its Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Other Euro collaborators working for Russia include previous government heads of Italy, Finland, and Australia – but some have had the decency to resign following the invasion — but not Schroder and others such as disgraced French bigshot Francois Filion, a director of the Russian oil giant, Rosneft.

All technology and business dealings with Russia must be sanctioned and forbidden. And the West should ban Russian athletes, musicians, ballerinas, conductors, composers, orchestras, painters, students, investors, or tourists and withdraw from the Olympics or other events that allow them to participate. This may be the only justice extracted here.

Frankly, the West has wimped out which leaves Ukraine with Hobson’s Choice: be destroyed or accept a “friendly takeover” which will save lives and allow Ukrainians to escape as refugees and “live for another day”. However, it also means regime change, no democracy, and the appointment of a Putin puppet. No matter which choice is made, Vlad wins because another massive refugee crisis will hit Europe, as disruptive as was the influx caused in part by Russia’s meddling in Syria. Ukrainians who can, will leave rather than live under the Russians again.

So the question is not whether Ukraine’s embattled government will surrender. It is, as posed to me by a Russian television producer yesterday, “why is nobody helping Ukraine fight Russia?”  

The simplicity and perspicacity of the question, and the answer to it, is the tragedy. Nobody fights beside Ukraine. It is financially supported but geopolitically orphaned because the West does not live up to the principles it preaches and Putin knows it.