The West's policy of appeasement towards Russia threatens us all

2. 2. 2023 / Jan Čulík

čas čtení 4 minuty
 
 
As Daniel Vesely points out, arguments and "analyses" are now and then produced in the West claiming that there is no need to fully support Ukraine militarily against Vladimir Putin's criminal and aggressive regime until the Russian aggressors are completely expelled from Ukrainian territory.

I would be very curious to know how the Czechs, for example, would look (how they will look) when Vladimir Putin wants to incorporate, for example, southern Moravia, including Brno, into his empire, and Western "analysts" recommend to the Prague government that the Czech Republic hand over Moravia to Putin, "in the interests of peace".

What the Russians did in Syria. Before that in Chechnya, now in Ukraine. Will it happen in Prague?



 

British television has been airing a remarkable three-part documentary these days called Putin versus the West, which traces the history of Russian pressure and attacks by Putin's people against Ukraine since Putin forced the  then Ukrainian President Yanukovych to give up a years-long negotiated and economic agreement with the European Union in the early 1990s. This led to protests, Yanukovych ordered the police to fire live ammunition at demonstrators in Kiev (allegedly despite Putin's warnings), was overthrown and fled to Russia. This led to Putin's decision to occupy Kiev and start killing civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk, the West refused to help militarily - even then.

In the BBC documentary, there is personal testimony from leading Western officials who have had numerous personal conversations with Putin and testified to his brutal and systematic lying always and everywhere. Angela Merkel, from her Eastern European past, speaks fluent Russian: she interjected in private conversations between eight or twelve eyes with Putin, "Volodya, please don't lie!"

European Union officials in a BBC documentary pointed out that Putin saw Ukraine as a danger if it moved closer to the West and established an independent judiciary, independent journalism and a functioning democracy. According to Putin, this would threaten his regime in Russia, because if the Russians saw this, they would start demanding it too. Hence the beginning of the naked killing.

And since the West had not lifted a finger against Putin's crimes already at the time, it only emboldened him. As a result of Western inaction, Putin began slaughtering civilians in Syria and razing cities there.  And it finally culminated in last February's invasion of Ukraine and his unrestrained efforts to destroy Ukraine and murder a large part of its population.

It is true that countries in the West that are not directly threatened by Putin have no strong interest in unconditionally supporting Ukraine militarily until Russian troops are completely expelled from its territory. The BBC documentary noted that after the attack on Crimea, the West was unwilling to do anything against Russia because it was dependent on its supplies of cheap oil and gas. Why jeopardise its economy, right?

But the problem is that if the world does not stand up vigorously against a murderer and a criminal (Putin is murdering large numbers of civilians with absolutely no scruples), it starts to threaten the whole world. And it is the Czech Republic's turn right after Slovakia.

The West's excuses that if Ukraine were properly helped militarily, Putin would start a nuclear war are just that - excuses. One of the most remarkable things about the Russian dictator is just how cowardly he is in protecting himself from any danger. The Russians around Putin know full well that if he were to attempt a nuclear attack, it would be the complete end of Russia - because the West would destroy him instantly. That's why they won't do it.

The pseudo-argument that the murderers around Putin must be appeased "in the interests of peace" is extremely dangerous. The appetite grows with the food. Putin thinks that the West will eventually get tired of supporting Ukraine militarily, and then his murderous regime will be able to complete the genocide of Ukrainians.

Judging by the arguments of peace activists, he may be right.

But then things will get pretty bad for us. Prague avoided bombing during the Second World War. I'm not entirely convinced it will avoid bombing after the West surrenders to Putin.

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