Kiev journalist: Without cheeseburgers and iPhones, Russians have only become angrier
If Western leaders cannot convince Russia to stop fighting in Ukraine, they may try to force Kyiv to admit defeat.
Ukrainian journalist Valeriy Kalnysh writes about this in the Kyiv online publication Zerkalo Nedeli, as reported by PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, the leaders of Germany, France and the United States are “exploring other options for ending the war, not just providing military support to Ukraine,” because they fear uncontrollable and fraught with dangerous consequences in the world.
“So if you can’t convince Putin to stop the war, then why not try to convince Ukraine to accept defeat?” suggests Kalnysh.
He also laments that large-scale Western sanctions have only united Russian society.
“Russia is used to living in shit. Depriving Russians of comfort, a cheeseburger and an iPhone, unfortunately, did not work to the extent intended. Sanctions and the departure of global brands from the country led to the fact that they became angrier not at themselves and their leadership, but at those who took their toys,” the author writes.
According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin “raised his army with the help of television.”
“Now he doesn’t even try to hide behind democracy. He doesn't need it. Russians support the war. Putin's rating has gone up again. The opposition disappeared like smoke. He can do whatever he wants with the country, and there will never be a better time to create the country he dreamed of,” the journalist fears.
He considers the phone calls of the German Chancellor and the French President to the Russian President “in the hope of pitying him” to be naive.
“But that won't happen. Putin understands force and only force. Time to fight. We'll talk about morality later. We need weapons. A lot now. Please,” summarizes Kalnysh.
English version :: Read in English Kyiv journalist: Without cheeseburgers and iPhones, Russians have only become angrier