AFP by way of Getty Images/CHANDAN KHANNA
With his invasion of Ukraine going badly, Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin is pretending to supply peace in trade for half the nation. Now, that’s: He’d clearly come for the remainder later.
If he can’t get that give up, he’ll simply carry on slaughtering as many Ukrainians as he can, regardless of his fevered declare that they’re all truly Russians. The solely place he’ll allow them to flee is to areas he controls.
At peace negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov stated the battle will proceed till Ukraine acknowledges “that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognize that Donetsk and Luhansk are independent states.” Russia additionally calls for that Ukraine write into its Constitution a everlasting ban on becoming a member of NATO, the European Union or the rest that will assist defend its independence of Moscow.
Peskov additionally provided the macabre vow that after Ukraine stops its “military action . . . no one will shoot.” We’re solely killing you since you insist on defending yourselves.
Meanwhile, Putin’s Defense Ministry claims it would provide protected evacuation routes from Ukraine — that led solely to Russia or its puppet Belarus. This, after the Russians shelled different evacuation routes it had stated could be protected.
In quick, Putin affords Ukraine nothing however conquest and compelled assimilation.
No surprise greater than 1.7 million Ukrainians have fled their nation — together with the 11-year-old boy who made it over the Slovakian border alone, touring 600 miles after his widowed mom despatched him away to flee Russian assaults on Zaporizhzhia. The flight will attain 5 million if the battle drags on, and certain thousands and thousands extra if Putin truly conquers the nation.
If the West continues to fulfill Putin’s aggression with inadequate resolve, numerous tragedies are forward.
The post Putin reveals his true hand in Ukraine first appeared on Umorr.
