#Poland analyst Daniel Szeligowski once again setting things straight about #Ukraine and #Russia after 2014:
In early 2014, Ukraine was a neutral country, with a pro-Russian president, and with 70% of Ukraine's population against NATO membership. Yet Russia bluntly violated Ukraine's neutrality and annexed Crimea, then launched a covert invasion of Ukraine in the east.
Petro Poroshenko won the presidential election in 2014 having promised a settlement with Russia, keeping a special status of the Russian language in Ukraine. He was initially sceptical regarding NATO accession, underlined Ukraine must rely on its own strength to provide security.
Did Putin meet Poroshenko halfway? Not at all. The regular Russian army entered the Ukrainian territory in mid-2014 to fight the Ukrainian troops, which led to the Minsk-1 agreement signed in September 2014.
Few weeks later, Ukraine's parliament adopted a law that would guarantee the then Russia-controlled part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions additional economic, financial and cultural powers.
How did Putin react? Russia staged sham local elections in the occupied Donbas, and then sent the regular army again to Ukraine in early 2015, which led to the Minsk-2 agreement signed in February 2015.
Zelensky was even more sceptical regarding NATO accession. Asked about NATO, he once famously said he never pays anyone a visit if he has not been invited. He won the presidential election promising to compromise with Russia - to stop shooting, sit down with Putin and talk.
Did Putin meet Zelensky halfway? Not at all. He actually raised the stakes by issuing the Russian passports on the occupied territories of Ukraine even before Zelensky assumed the office, putting him in a difficult political position since the start.
Zelensky was ready to drop Ukraine's NATO bid in an exchange for the Russian troops withdrawing from Ukraine. The talks were held already before 2022. What did Putin do? He launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In the first weeks of the invasion, Zelensky was yet again ready to drop Ukraine's NATO bid. But he wanted to obtain international security guarantees. What did Putin do? He demanded that Russia must be consulted before any aid would be given to Ukraine in the event of aggression.
To sum up, Ukraine has consistently tried to reach a deal with Russia over the last decade, and was open to giving up on its NATO bid in exchange for the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine. Russia never reciprocated, never showed a good will, kept raising the stakes.
Both Poroshenko and Zelensky were initially sceptical regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO. Both wanted to get a deal with Putin. And Putin himself pushed both of them to seek NATO membership out of no other viable alternatives.
Up till now, Putin has shown absolutely no willingness to compromise with Ukraine. His war aims remain maximalist - subjugating Ukraine and changing its regime. He seeks Ukraine's partition, and will turn what is left of Ukraine into Russian protectorate.
Russia's imperial self-conception is that of Russian elites at large, and not just Vladimir Putin. The Russian leadership simply cannot reconcile with the existence of a sovereign Ukrainian statehood.
Therefore any sustainable Ukrainian-Russian compromise is currently not possible unless the Russian cost-benefit calculus changes. Only credible risk to the stability of the Russian regime would impact this calculus. The easiest way goes through defeating Russia in Ukraine.
@antonproitzelhaimer@kravietz the only way is to make multiple posts back to back. Or you can move to an instance that has a higher character limit.π€·ββοΈ
Moscowβs operations have escalated across the continent, from employing thugs for hits in sympathetic countries to massive covert campaigns to sow havoc.
Whether it be daylight assassinations, attempted coups, or paying off right-wing aka nazis aka republicans both the scale and the scope of Russiaβs covert operations abroad have now reached a level not seen since the height of the Cold War.
The Kremlin's "active measures" against Europe and the US constitute a significant front in the Kremlin's war with Western democratic governments.
@arkadiusz it was ao fun to poke around with the old camera, thank you for showing me how it worked and being brave enough to even let me snap some pictures with it π
S.O.S. #RomΓ’nia and its two MEPs, Diana Iovanovici-ΘoΘoacΔ and Luis Lazarus, have allied with the right-wing Alternative for #Germany ( #AfD) in the new bloc, βThe Sovereignistsβ.
Other members include Mi HazΓ‘nk (Our Homeland) from Hungary, an irredentist party which claims #Hungary's pre-Trianon borders, the Monarchist-Libertarian, Konfederacja from #Poland, Se AcabΓ³ la Fiesta from #Spain, NIKH from #Greece and Hnutie Republika from #Slovakia.
#Fascists all over #Europe creating a united front against our #democracy, while stupid liberals and centrist suck up to them and pushing for a disastrous military conflict with #Russia.
@faab64
Naaahhh, you got me a bit wrong there. I'm one of those "Russia is killing and plundering and raping in occupied #Ukraine and wouldn't it be great sending weapons to those people fighting really hard to push the imperialists back out?".
You're zero for three on those things you're sure of, so maybe you want to adjust your approach somehow?
"The #Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, exchanged a warm embrace with a veteran at the 80th anniversary of the #DDay landings in #Normandy. The veteran kissed Zelenskiy's hand and told him 'you're the saviour of the people', to which the Ukrainian president replied 'you saved #Europe'. The anniversary of the turning point in the second world war took place while the #war rages on between #Ukraine and #Russia"
A tiny selection from recent pro-Palestinian student protests in Warsaw.
Students at several Warsaw universities loudly demand them to cut ties with Israeli institutions supporting genocide in Palestine. Since the university authorities seem not be listening despite rounds of negotiations, the occupation protest at a park near the university goes on. More universitities across the country are joining in as we speak.
For me, a noob documentary snapshotter, it's a huge lesson on activism, solidarity and principles. I've never received a lesson like this when I was their age.
π§πΎ π΅π± The number of attempted illegal border crossings from #Belarus into EU-member #Poland has shot up in recent months to almost 400 a day β from only a handful a day earlier this year, Polish officials say.
#Poland is technically capable of protecting the skies over #Ukraine's western regions with its air defenses, but this requires "political will," Air Force spokesperson Illia #Yevlash said on April 29.
"Theoretically and technically, it is possible since Poland has long-range air defense systems, namely #Patriots. However, this would require political will, and this is already a topic for our diplomatic services," Yevlash said on television.