On Friday, German Die Welt published an article by Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, titled A Deal with Putin Is a Deal with the Devil and dedicated to the Western policy towards Ukraine and related threats.
This publication is targeted at Western audiences, but its messages are equally worth being heard in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian version of the article was published by agreement with the Vice Prime Minister’s office on eurointegration.com.ua .
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Recently, Ukraine has been dogged by predominantly bad news. Thousands of civilians were taken hostages between frost and fire. Putin launched another attack on Donbas, the most violent since the beginning of 2015. The Kremlin rubs its blood-stained hands in anticipation of a new partition of the world and in the hope that it will soon get Ukraine.
At the same time, many in the West seem to consider “all possible options” to strike a deal with Putin.
When did the things go this bad? After all, it started neither last week nor last year. To some extent, it all began in February 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
We all remember those days. Ukraine appealed to Russia to cease and desist. The West appealed to Ukraine not to offer armed resistance. Russia, however, appealed to no one; it just did its thing: disruption, manipulation and occupation of a foreign land.
Back then, no one was ready for this.
Ukraine needed three long months of 2014, March, April, and May, to recover from the shock and react. Unfortunately, it seems that many in the West still do not realize what has happened.
Russia interferes with your elections, corrupts you, plays foul with you, while you continue to appeal to it. As before, you still appeal to the good will of a country for which tearing its neighbors to pieces is business as usual. Some of you might think: if we give Russia what it wants, this nightmare will end. You just cannot understand what it wants.
Well, here is a frank answer: it does not believe that the West and Russia can be on the rise at the same time.
Russia knows only one thing: it is time for it to rise, and for the West to sink.
Yes, this defies logic. But is it not also true for Moscow’s concept of the world in general? Is not their entire thinking based on the logic of a zero sum game?
Yes, this contradicts everything we have learned over the past 25 years. But does Russia not seek to wind off these 25 years?
Don’t delude yourself: all this happened not because Russia did not understand your intentions. It happened because we all did not understand the intentions of Russia. We thought that the Soviet Union was dead all these years, but it is not so. It just changed gear. It was preparing for a rematch.
“Houston, we have a problem.” And this problem is USSR 2.0, the state that is run by the KGB and is capable of things that the USSR 1.0 could only dream of: interfering with your political discourse and ruining it, depreciating your values, corrupting your elites, and destroying your unions.
No, Russian rulers are not great thinkers.
They are just the average former KGB operatives with unlimited funds at their dosposal and total lack of conscience.
They have no grand ideas of their own, but they do destroy those of others: the EU, NATO, the “American dream,” and the “European home”.
So, let’s go back to the question: why not actually give Russia what it wants? Because above all it wants Ukraine. But Ukraine does not agree.
This is the key contradiction: Ukraine wants to be free, while Putin wants to keep Ukraine on a leash. What kind of deals can be made in such setup, except for those ignoring the basic and legitimate interests of Ukraine?
Dealing with Putin is like striking a deal with the devil: he gives you something, but in return you give him your entire system of beliefs and values. He gives you something more, and you agree to the new division of the world. He gives you a bit more, and you turn the blind eye, while he destroys his neighbors.
Ten thousand Ukrainians gave their lives not to let Putin finally get what he wants.
We made our choice as a free nation. Today it is time for you in the West to make yours.
If you feel like making a deal with Putin, there is nothing we can do about it. But do not do this at the expense of someone else’s freedom. As it is baseness, it is a sin that will haunt you forever. Freedom cannot be part of geopolitical games. NATO, EU, democracy and international law are not for sale.
There can be no fair deal between the West and Russia without a fair agreement between Ukraine and Russia. The only possible fair agreement between Ukraine and Russia should be based on restoring territorial integrity of Ukraine. Not on Russian terms, but on the terms of international law. Unfortunately, today it seems that Russia is not ready for this.
It is now time to defend ourselves. Not long ago, the West considered the whole world to be its “own,” simply because you believed that democracy matters for all. Today, this concept is being questioned by someone for whom democracy is not of great value. He proposes to divide the world anew: between those who value democracy and those who can do without.
If the West agrees, that would spell a return to pre-Reagan era.
The free world will become smaller. And smaller. And smaller again. Finally, it will become smaller than the world of tyranny, and will continue shrinking.
Please keep in mind: if freedom dies in Syria, if it dies in Ukraine, then some of it dies in the West as well. So, please try to do what seems impossible: stay strong in the times of trial.
History will judge you depending on whether you can brave it.
By Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze,
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
Translated by InformNapalm English
(CC BY 4.0) This information has been specially prepared for InformNapalm.org, an active link to the authors and our project is obligatory for any reprint or further public use of the material.
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