Speaking to the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the world is entering the most dangerous decade since WW II, accusing the West of nuclear blackmail.against Russia. But whether or not Putin is in dark mood because the Ukraine War, things could change in a heartbeat with the right kind of leadership. Without 79-year-old Joe Bdien deciding that he’d take on the Russia Federation with a proxy war against the Kremlin using Ukrainian troops, Putin’s mood would be different. Invading Ukraine, as Putin said many times, could have been avoided with better security arrangements, requiring the U.S. and NATO to stop supplying Kiev with unlimited cash-and-lethal weapons. Western officials led by the U.S. insist Russia must leave every inch of Ukrainian territory before going to the peace table. Russian has large numbers of Troops in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk..
Putin said he had no regrets sending troops into Ukraine to stop in influx of U.S. and NATO weapons flooding into Ukraine with only one purpose of repelling a Russian invasion. Putin said the war was a “dangerous bloody and dirty” geopolitical game, blaming the West, primarily the U.S. for breaching historic security arrangements on the Russian border. Whether admitted to or not, Putin doesn’t want a U.S. puppet government in Ukraine on his border. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky has done everything to gain U.S. backing or NATO membership, something that Putin says is a deal breaker. So, if Zelensky knows NATO membership is unacceptable to the Kremlin, why would he beg Secretary-Gen. Jens Stoltenberg for fast-track membership? Putin calls it a dirty geopolitical game, letting Biden and Zelensky know it won’t work for Russia.
Putin sees U.S. and NATO encroachment on normal security arrangements what caused him to order his forces into Ukraine. As long as the U.S. and NATO supply Kiev with unlimited cash and lethal weapons, it’s not something the Kremlin can accept on the Russian border. “The historical period of the West’s undivided dominance over world affairs is coming to an end,” Putin said, referring obliquely to his new partnership with China. China, too, resents the U.S. sending carrier and battleship groups into the South China Sea to impose freedom of navigation. Unless there’s some change in Western approaches to security, it could be a long time before U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations are restored. Chinese President Xi Jinping, coming off the Chinese Communist Party Conference, said there’s only so much tolerance Beijing has for Taiiwan’s claims of independence.
Ending the Ukraine War should be Biden’s highest priority because it pushes the world to the brink of WW II. Putin accused former British Prime Minister Liz Truss of stoking nuclear tensions for saying London was ready to use its nuclear arsenal if required. “We are standing at a historical frontier. Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important decade sine the end of WW II. Biden must decide whether feeding Ukraine cash and arms to fight a proxy war against the Kremlin is more important than world peace. Zelensky wants his land back but is letting the Ukraine War spiral into WW III or nuclear war worth it, not matter what Zelesnky wants. Putin wants to sit down and negotiate a ceasefire and peace deal but only if Biden agrees to stop funding and supplying Ukraine with unlimited cash-and-lethal arms.
Biden and Zelensky have a strategy of reclaiming lost Ukrainian land over the last eight months of war. Both think that they can’t start peace negotiations unless they’ve captured back the lion’s share of lost territory, something that continues the danger to the European Continent. Zelensky decided he wants to take back Crimea, something Ukraine lost in 2014. But with the war starting Feb. 24, Putn controlled Donetsk and Luhansk and certainly the Crimean Peninsula. So, Zelensky has decided with U.S. unlimited cash-and-arms he’s got the best shot of taking Crimea with U.S. support. But the dangers to the West have gotten too great to given Zelensky a blank check to prosecute a war for his particular purposes. If the war could end today, with Russia retaining Donetsk, Luhanks and Crimea, it would be better for all parties. Biden must tell Zelensky that his plans to retake Crimea, Donetsk and Luhank are not realistic, given the risks of WW III and nuclear war on the European Continent.
Putin wants Biden to stop his proxy war against the Russian Federation to get back to common sense approaches to security. Russia would not accept a puppet U.S. regime on its border, with the U.S. and NATO supplying unlimited arms to Ukraine to continue the war indefinitely. “I have always believed and believe in common sense so I am convinced that sooner or later the new centers of the mulipolar world order and the West will have to start an equal conversation about the future we share—and the earlier the better,” Putin said. Putin has been signaling he wants tot resolve the Ukraine War at the peace table, not on the battlefield. Biden and Zelensky must get over their fantasy of toppling the Russian Federation and getting rid of Putin. Both must come to their senses that going to the peace table is good for everyone. Keeping the war going just increases the risks of WW III and nuclear war.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
