Ultimately, it is people who decide history, not demagogues trying to orchestrate popular sentiment behind historical myths of concocted national grandeur.
A commentary by a former ambassador to Russia, Italy and the European Union as well as High Commissioner to the U.K. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Canadian International Council.
Ukraine has lost perhaps a hundred thousand killed — by some estimates, half the casualties of Russia; there are 10 million displaced persons, internal and external; the World Bank calculates reconstruction costs at $350 billion, twice Ukraine’s GDP. But the war has united the Ukrainian people for the first time, across linguistic, regional, and even historic lines.
Ukrainians draw from a contrary force — “volya” — popular will, freedom. Their volya to defend their homeland and their freedom has shown its motivational superiority to the vlast channeled by conscripted invaders. If the West provides President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with timely and decisive arms and ample munitions, Putin will not achieve his objectives.
The international communications war intersects with that of global diplomacy, bearing on sanctions policy and a competitive race to replenish military equipment. A critical question today is about China’s intentions, with the threat of Beijing supporting Moscow with lethal weapons having been dangled following U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Wang Yi, China’s highest-ranking diplomat, in Munich last week.
There is no shortage of countries in the world whose populations fear aggression from a more powerful neighbour. Deterring and punishing aggression is for their protection as well as Ukraine’s. Early in the conflict, it was generally thought that an adequate Ukrainian “win” would be to repel the invasion.
The war crimes by Russians and projection propaganda by Putin accusing Ukraine of genocide now make intolerable the notion of ceding any land with Ukrainian populations to Russian control. Putin has killed any positive feeling between the peoples.
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