February 24, 2022. Day 1 of the heinous invasion of Ukraine, an independent country, by Russia. Since then, Vladimir Putin’s powerful Russian army has been bogged down.
It is bogged down thanks to the exceptional resistance of the Ukrainian people and their president Volodymyr Zelensky. A young head of state whose bravery and intelligence, like those of his nation, never cease to dazzle the world.
The horror of this invasion nevertheless gives the heavy impression that it has been going on for years. In the West, solidarity with Ukraine has not yet wavered. But who knows for how much longer?
What we do know, however, is that Ukraine will increasingly need state-of-the-art military equipment, financial, political and moral support. Hence the importance, in all these respects, of Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, alongside Volodymyr Zelensky.
A few days into the first year of the invasion, the American president promised new armaments and the “unwavering” support of the United States.
Faced with Putin, self-proclaimed admirer of dictator Joseph Stalin, will the message carry? In its Ukrainian megalomania, let’s not hold our breath.
Behind the heroic resistance of the Ukrainians, what they are experiencing is no less untenable. Thousands of dead. Millions of refugees. Cities razed. Decimated families. Mass graves worthy of an era that we thought was over.
The essential
The main thing is there. What is at stake first in this battle for Ukraine by Ukraine is its own independence.
What is at stake is her freedom to exist, to be what she is. A democratic people which, after centuries of Russian and then Soviet hegemony, has finally become independent.
Ukraine is a distinct culture and a truly national language. And this, despite decades of open Russification policies carried out on its soil by the former Soviet Union.
This is precisely what Putin dreams of eradicating. He carries within him this old imperial fantasy of “Great Russia” for which the Ukrainians would be only “little Russians” whose only destiny would be to be annexed and Russified for their own good…
Jimmy Carter’s Righteous Words
This fantasy is at the heart of Putin’s propaganda. This is why the Russian president is unable to even understand the resistance of Ukrainians, their president and their diaspora. Ditto for the support of the West.
Because he despises the Ukrainian people, Putin can only conceive of one way out: the defeat and humiliation of Ukraine.
However, if it is impossible to predict when and how this war will end one day, the capitulation of the Ukrainians seems to be the least likely outcome.
Following Joe Biden’s historic visit to Kyiv, how can we not also recall the words of his predecessor Jimmy Carter, Democratic President (1977-1981) and Nobel Peace Prize winner? At 98, surrounded by his family, he receives palliative care at home.
Last year, on the very day of the invasion of Ukraine, Jimmy Carter condemned what he bluntly described as “a violation of international law and the fundamental rights of Ukrainians (…), which threatens the sovereignty of Ukraine and the security of Europe and the whole world”.
He already called on the United States and its allies to “support the right of the Ukrainian people to peace, security and self-determination”.
From day one, the words of this man of peace were true.
:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/WZMKGN6S5NHRHGWSAL2TEBCP5A.jpg)
