The Brazilian president has just made outrageous statements about the war in Ukraine. For him, the responsibility for the war lies with Ukraine and Russia. He also accuses Europe and the United States of doing nothing to stop the war. As a bonus, it offers the mediation of Brazil, joined to that of China and the United Arab Emirates. There is a limit to taking people for fools.
Lula da Silva endorses the Russian propaganda according to which the Ukraine is partly responsible for the invasion of its territory. It’s wrong.
In fact, Vladimir Putin is enraged because the Ukrainians have freed themselves from the yoke of Moscow and have chosen the path of democracy. Putin wants to rebuild the Russian empire and strengthen dictatorships, his own in the first place.
However, independence and freedom are not faults. Moreover, Americans and most European peoples also chose independence and freedom. Same for the Brazilians.
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Cynical and sickening
To suggest that dictatorships like those in China and the United Arab Emirates serve as arbiters for a people seeking freedom and democracy is cynical and sickening.
Accusing the United States of doing nothing to stop the war in Ukraine is also a big fallacy. This war was undertaken by Russia, which expected to quickly conquer all Ukrainian territory. But the Ukrainian army stopped the Russian army.
It was only later that the United States and its allies overwhelmingly supported Ukraine. Without this help, Ukraine would be just a memory.
To say that Europe and the United States are doing nothing to stop the war echoes Russian propaganda which would like Ukraine to stop receiving arms in order to be better conquered.
price of freedom
Yes, but, say the businessmen of international relations, this war is expensive. It contributes to inflation around the world, it harms trade. Seriously, do you know many wars that don’t have this effect?
The question asked by small leaders like Lula da Silva, Donald Trump or Emmanuel Macron is always the same: how much is it worth to safeguard democracies and freedoms? The answer will always be the same: there is no point in being rich and living in chains. Moreover, the great progress of humanity does not occur in dictatorships, but in democracies.
The war in Ukraine is expensive and will continue to be expensive. Dictatorships want to persuade democracies that the game is not worth the candle. On the contrary. Talk to people who have lived under dictatorships, people from Eastern Europe for example. For nothing in the world would they want to go back under the boot of Moscow or no longer live in a democracy. Solidarity between democracies is essential to their survival.