Will this be Putin’s legacy?
By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: From the beginning of the Ukraine conflict I have said that Putin
would have to conquer Ukraine or surrender. The latest information from
Moscow suggests that Putin has chosen to surrender, with surrender
defined by Putin giving up enough of his goals for the Special Military
Operation to get a peace agreement. How many and what they would be is
not known.
At first glance, if Putin has made such a choice, it is an honorable,
humane decision that places the life of the planet above Russian
national sovereignty. Putin, of course, will not get any credit for it.
The official narrative will be a defeated Russia got the best deal it
could.` But at second glance, Putin’s surrender to the West merely kicks
the can down the road.
Putin’s surrender could undermine his support and Russian unity and
encourage Washington’s effort to breakup the Russian Federation into
several small countries that lack the ability to serve as a constraint
on American hegemony. The Russian military is opposed to trading
concessions for peace, and Putin has removed one of his critics.
Helmer reports that one month after the Russia-Ukraine conflict
began, Putin, who has no taste for war, sent a peacemaker, Vladimir
Medinsky, to Instanbul to negotiate peace with Ukraine. Medinsky appears
to be an Atlanticist Integrationist, who thinks Russia can build
bridges to the West with cultural exhibitions, orchestral and ballet
performances, and museum exhibits. Apparently, he believes this despite
the Wests’s ban on any semblance of Russian culture, including Olympic
athletes.
The Russian military rejected the peace terms Medinsky negotiated in
Turkey. Fortunately for Putin, Washington made Ukraine reject them,
saving Putin from a confrontation with the Russian military.
Now approaching three years of a conflict that a real national leader
would have ended in 3 weeks, Putin has his back to the wall. There is
no space left to which to retreat. Faced with US/NATO missiles fired
into Russia, Putin says it means World War. If Putin backs down again,
Russia is finished.