Support Ukrainian “escalation” | The Press

The more time passes, the deeper the West engages in military support for Ukraine.

How far should you go?

In the face of what Moscow calls an “escalation”, some analysts tell us that the new military equipment will only aggravate the conflict. And that it would be better to negotiate with Putin.

But negotiate what, exactly?

It was through negotiations that we reached a first ceasefire, in 2014, during the “Donbass war”, a prelude to the Russian invasion of 2022. This agreement was quickly flouted, and it took German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande to travel to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin to sign a renewed agreement, Minsk II. This one held up a little better (but not completely)…until last year.

Now that the invasion is massive, now that the Kremlin’s Ukrainian ambition is total, should Ukraine be left to itself and encouraged to sign the surrender?

Obviously not.

The first thing to consider is that Ukraine is a sovereign country, determined to repel the Russian aggressor.

I am always amazed to hear commentators drawing rules from their homes, exchanging bits of territory in a country that is not theirs in their heads as if they were playing Risk.

The second consideration is of course the humanitarian aspect. In this invasion, war crimes are committed and documented every day. How do you let people get slaughtered in a country that tries to defend itself with third-rate military equipment?

Yes, you will tell me, but if there was no resistance, there would be fewer deaths. So what, Ukrainians should just accept their country’s endorsement?

Even if a negotiation with the Kremlin was possible, there remains a well-established principle, in war as in life: it is better not to negotiate on your knees. Reinforcing one’s position and driving the enemy back is therefore also a strategic necessity.

At the start of the war, the rhetoric of Western governments was firm, but the military gestures timid – at least in comparison to the demands of the Ukrainian president.

Then, over the months, we were able to measure that the Russians perhaps did not have the means to carry out their threats.

China has never denounced the invasion and remains an ally of Russia. But she is not particularly delighted with this war which does not dare to speak its name in China, but which costs everyone dearly.

Above all, she made things clear: the use of nuclear weapons is “impossible and inadmissible”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China to his Russian counterpart.

Little by little, the West therefore continued to increase its contribution. Ukraine is now equipped with Patriot air defense missiles. And soon German Leopard tanks and ultra-sophisticated American Abrams tanks.

Moscow speaks of an “escalation”, which would be a way of waging war on Russia without saying so. But everything indicates that it is Russia which is preparing a massive offensive. All the more reason to better equip the country. We will never send soldiers there. But at least we have to equip theirs decently.

How will this war end?

Nobody knows, because we don’t really know what Putin’s end goals are.

But how to negotiate peace now with a head of state who does not even recognize the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state?

Western countries are not only defending Ukraine in this war. They also defend a certain world order. After Ukraine, it could well be the Baltic countries. Or the former Soviet republics. Georgia got attacked. Kazakhstan, which refused to support the war in Ukraine, is approaching China for fear of one day being attacked by Moscow.

The imperialist will of Putin’s Kremlin is not only manifested in nationalist rhetoric. She has been on display before our eyes for 20 years.

Negotiate with Putin? Now ? And about what?

“The Tsar’s empire was born out of war and it was logical that in the end it would return to war”, says the “Kremlin mage” in the novel-essay of the same name, inspired by the writings of the former Putin’s adviser, Vladislav Surkov.

Everyone wants this war to end immediately. How we wanted to avoid a Second World War in 1936, 1937, 1938, by negotiating with Nazi Germany expanding into the heart of Europe. It is not useless to recall it, the day after the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp… by the Soviet army.

Putin is not Hitler. But the reconquest of the lost empire takes the place of “living space”.

History teaches us that some “peaces” are not only shameful. They are also dangerous for the world.