Home » [Famous columnist]Is it time to try to end the Russian-Ukrainian war? | People are outraged | The Epoch Times

[Famous columnist]Is it time to try to end the Russian-Ukrainian war? | People are outraged | The Epoch Times

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[Famous columnist]Is it time to try to end the Russian-Ukrainian war? | People are outraged | The Epoch Times

[The Epoch Times, August 22, 2022](The Epoch Times columnist Conrad Black wrote / Xinyu compiled) Most people believe that since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, both sides have suffered heavy losses, the war has reached a deadlock, and it is time to get serious Consider negotiating. As we all know, the war has so far resulted in millions of Ukrainian refugees, and Russia has occupied about 20% of the land in Ukraine, which has devastated the lives, anger and material destruction of these regions, which is in many ways no different from a poor country .

Although the Kremlin always brags about the major victories in the war and keeps silent about its own losses, an undisguised fact is that the material losses to Russia caused by this unjust invasion of Ukraine are extremely heavy, and over time Over time, these losses will become increasingly significant and overwhelm them. The total population of Russia is more than three times that of Ukraine, but the entire Ukrainian people support the resistance to Russian aggression.

Relatively speaking, the only way Russia can take advantage of its population militarily is to conduct a general mobilization of the whole people, and this kind of large-scale mobilization cannot be sustained for a long time. History shows that they revolt only about once every 300 years, despite the endless provocation of the bottom line of the populace by the monstrous wrong government.

History is always strikingly similar. In 1944, Charles de Gaulle, Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, held an 18-hour war of words with the then Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, before writing an article to the latter. The author made a scathing assessment that also applies seamlessly to today’s Russian leader Vladimir Putin: how lucky he is to have “a people so dynamic and patient that The worst of slavery has not paralyzed them; to have a soil so rich in resources that the worst of destruction and waste cannot deplete it.”

However, the differences between the two eras have changed over time: in World War II, the Soviets were defending their country against the Nazi invasion, just as the Ukrainians are now resisting the Russian invasion, and the Soviets were Wartime efforts were so important to Western democracies that, as the two greatest democratic leaders since the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ) and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rejected their stereotypes about Stalin and embraced him as the leader of the Allies to jointly defeat Hitler and Nazism; however, the Russian people today are struggling with a complete It remains an iron fact that in the quagmire of avoidable wars of aggression, there has been far more suffering than can be endured by any nation entirely in the Western camp.

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Although the Russian government tries its best to control domestic public opinion, ordinary people are strongly suppressed by authoritarianism, and the outside world cannot know the true views of the Russian people on the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, we can reasonably assume that if Putin believes that Russia can still sustain financially It is true that the Russian public will not express excessive anti-war behavior. The Kremlin is operating normally. He will not hesitate to conduct wartime national mobilization, re-recruit a large number of young and middle-aged men, and escalate the scale of the Ukrainian war. This is worth vigilance. .

Up to now, despite the huge disparity in the overall military power between the two sides, Ukraine has great advantages in terms of the number of soldiers put into the battlefield, morale and well-trained, and NATO also provides a strong supply of weapons and materials behind . In contrast, Russia does not have any reliable allies in this war, and the more it invests in this war, the more dangerous the entire country’s dependence on China is.

In the early days of the war, the Biden administration made some flippant remarks, saying that “Russia must be defeated, and it must be defeated in full view.” Nonetheless, there is no evidence that Putin has lost his mind, and he also thinks To end the war as soon as possible. Extending the front line is not a good thing for both sides. What we need is not to condone Russia’s foreign aggression, but to recognize its right to reasonably resolve historical ties to Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population. In exchange for reciprocity, the outside world must unequivocally affirm Ukraine’s heroic act of defending the country. In this case, Ukraine joins the European and Western camps, but does not become a NATO military member, and Ukraine’s redrawn borders should have the unconditional support of all parties, including NATO members, Russia, and other neighbors under the former Soviet Union. .

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While the Russian government has gone to great lengths to hide the horrific economic damage it has suffered, there is no denying the fact that the unemployment rate is at least 30%, similar to the unemployment rate in the United States during the Great Depression of 1933; exports other than petroleum products are almost disappeared; total imports of important commodities halved; the apparent soundness of the ruble and the stock exchange was an illusion. Foreigners cannot sell their shares on the Russian stock exchange, and the ruble is effectively no longer the domestic currency of exchange. Russia’s social security system is completely inadequate to deal with these difficulties, and the group that is least adapted to this totalitarian environment is the emerging capitalist class in Russia, who are subject to government supervision and constraints comparable to the people of the former Soviet Union under Stalin and most Tsarist Russia. Ancient Slavs under tyrannical rule.

During the war, Ukraine and Russia had recently reached a food deal; at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, on August 4, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor O. Viktor Orban has worked hard to broker a peaceful appeal to the Republicans to end the war; Russia is handling the war in a rather lukewarm manner. There are indications that all parties are seeking a compromise and peaceful approach. Although Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was horrific and shameless, it is conceivable that if Russia were to throw bombs, missiles and heavy artillery shells on Ukraine, the human and material damage would be far more tragic than it is now.

No matter how ambitious Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may be, he will embrace a peaceful situation based on solid national security guarantees and a broad commitment to reconstruction aid from the West, as well as a genuine The result of a democratic referendum to decide whether Ukraine’s Russian-speaking regions want to stay in Ukraine or join Russia, not a rigged election farce like Putin’s 2014 rigged in Crimea.

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Regardless of the outcome of such a referendum, President Zelensky has done an excellent job of leading his people out of the quagmire of attempted annexation by Russia and has written a heroic epic for national independence. In the early days of the war, President Joe Biden had casually offered President Zelensky and his family a safe escape from an impending Russian military operation, but Zelensky chose to Stay and follow through. He will be the first president in Ukrainian history to build the country into a veritable independent state with unwavering roots in the Western world. If the United States does not act to bring about peace talks between the two sides, then the French and German leaders and the incoming British prime minister will form a good office. Peace is achievable, and opportunities must be seized in time, otherwise it will be fleeting and it will be too late to regret.

About the Author:

Conrad Black has been one of Canada’s most prominent financiers of nearly 40 years and one of the world‘s most influential newspaper publishers. He has written authoritative biographies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, and Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President. Recently, his biography of the 45th president, Donald John Trump, “Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other,” also came out. . Conrad Black has also engaged in many insightful conversations with renowned scholars including Bill Bennett, Victor Hanson and others, as detailed in the podcast Scholars and Sense).

Original: Is This the Time to Try to End the War? Published in The Epoch Times.

This article represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the position of The Epoch Times.

Responsible editor: Gao Jing#

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