Kateryna Girnyk09:28, 05/09/24

CNN notes that previously lost wars forced the Russians to think and implement reforms.

Russia has been waging a full-scale war in Ukraine for more than two years , and all this time there has been an opinion abroad that Russia cannot lose. According to CNN , even today, when Ukraine has been holding its position for more than two years, among Russian supporters in the West, the prevailing opinion is that the Russian Federation must win in the end.

However, Russia can lose and it must lose, for the sake of the whole world – and for the sake of itself, the publication notes.

As CNN writes, Moscow’s success is not on the battlefield, but in our minds:

“If something seems impossible, we can’t imagine what could happen next. And that’s why even among supporters of Ukraine there is a tendency to believe that the best solution would be a draw. Such thinking is unrealistic.”

At the same time, the publication points out, the question is who will win and with what consequences.

“If Russia wins, the consequences will be dire: the risk of a larger-scale war in Europe, a greater likelihood of a Chinese adventure in the Pacific Ocean, a weakening of the international legal order in general, the probable proliferation of nuclear weapons, and a loss of faith in democracy,” the article emphasizes.

At the same time, it is normal for Russia to lose wars. And it usually forced the Russians to think and carry out reforms. Thus, the defeat in the Crimea in 1856 forced the autocracy to end serfdom. Russia’s defeat of Japan in 1905 led to a revolution. The failure of the USSR in Afghanistan led to Gorbachev’s reforms and, accordingly, to the end of the Cold War.

“Russia can lose this war, and must, for the sake of the Russians themselves. Victory over Russia means not only the end of the senseless loss of young lives in Ukraine. It is also Russia’s only chance to become a post-imperial country, a country where reforms are possible, where Russians themselves can be protected by law and have the right to vote. Defeat in Ukraine is Russia’s historic chance for a normal life, as Russians who want democracy and the rule of law will say,” CNN notes.

The war in Ukraine – the opinions of Western politicians

The President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel says that now it is important to support Ukraine in every possible way so that it can make it clear to the Russian aggressor that there is no point in continuing the war. According to him, as long as Moscow continues to have at least some hope of success, it has no reason to hold peace talks.

For his part, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crozetto said that Putin needs all of Ukraine, and moreover, “no one assures us that he will stop at Ukraine.” At the same time, he believes that the appearance of Russian troops in Kyiv would become a serious destabilizing factor in Europe and would inevitably lead to “a clash with other countries that would not accept Russian tanks at the border.”

(C)UNIAN 2024