OFFENER BRIEF VON GARRI KASPAROW AN HEIKO MAAS. Ex-Schachweltmeister und Menschenrechtler fordert deutschen Außenminister zur Unterstützung der russischen Protest-Bewegung auf. bild.de/politik/auslan…
The English version of my open letter to German Foreign Minister @HeikoMaas, who called Russia's return to the Council of Europe "good news for Russian civil society" when it was great news for Putin instead. facebook.com/GKKasparov/pos…
Putin's regime celebrated the good news by beating peaceful political protesters and then arresting over a thousand. Going to the European Court isn't justice. Only Putin's exit can bring that, and welcoming him in international institutions entrenches him further.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Nothing is honorable about rewarding the aggressor & condemning the victim to occupation, torture, and death. And Ukraine doesn’t have to forcibly expel every Russian soldier from its land when hitting Russian targets + allies destroying the RU economy will force them to leave.
"Ukraine can’t win" has been the mantra of Kremlin propagandists for years now. As if Ukrainians needed to march on Moscow, or send out meat waves of infantry like Russia does. Ukraine *can* win, by making continuing the war more dangerous for Putin’s grasp on power than leaving.
As the great English philosopher GM Nigel Short once said, when your opponent offers a draw, stop and consider why he thinks he’s losing! Putin is showing more interest in negotiations because his position is getting worse, and he knows Trump will help.
The Russian economy is collapsing, Ukrainian strikes are crippling RU energy & will only expand, and all Putin has left is terror attacks on civilians. What to do? Call Trump to the rescue! Get sanctions lifted, stop UKR strikes, marginalize Europe, kill more innocents. 1/7
If Senator Graham has any decency left he will hide in a dark corner and never speak again. Rubio is a Catholic who believes in Heaven and Hell, no? The only question left is the price. How much is Putin paying for the US to betray its allies, values, and its own security? 2/7
Don't forget Fox News & the rest of the MAGA sycophant media. "Russia hoax"? Ok, give one example of anything Trump has ever done that harmed Putin directly. The only hoaxes are Trump pretending to care about Ukraine & months of "he's getting frustrated with Putin" stories. 3/7
For over a century, US power, including hard power, was a force for good in the world. Yes, I said it. My latest Autocracy In America guest @AmbJohnBolton also says it, with plenty to back it up. From Iran to Russia to Hamas, what Trump's isolationism gets wrong. Link 👇
Listen or read my latest podcast episode of Autocracy In America with Ambassador John Bolton, who still believes America can, and should, be a force for democracy in the world. theatlantic.com/podcasts/archi…
Growing up in the USSR, but with the rare privilege of traveling abroad thanks to chess, I had no doubt who the good guys were, and it wasn’t us. Not to say the US and its myriad interventions were all pure of intent or outcome! But democracies standing up to dictators is good.
Some good material as usual, but do not give so much credit to the Western leaders Putin evaluated correctly. They were ready to concede Ukraine. Putin's big mistake of underestimating Ukraine and Ukrainians is one Biden and others made as well, and it all comes back to that.
Also, Putin is a KGB man, not a military leader, and his war on the free world started long before 2014, in 2005. His methods changed as his sense of impunity grew in the face of Western weakness. He was building political & economic leverage before using force.
E.g. Orban to undermine the EU & NATO, supporting Brexit, Le Pen, and Trump to do the same. Nord Stream 2 was under construction even after Russia invaded Ukraine. Although Putin's record wasn't 100%, it was only Ukraine's surprising resistance that forced allies to step up.
Echoing what I and so many other dissidents in repressive regimes ask of the mighty leaders of the free world: If you don't want to help us, fine, but stop helping our oppressors. Stop giving dictators money, trade, political normalization.
It was easy to critique the failings of our fractious democratic opposition in Russia. But meanwhile, Putin had summits and posed for photos with G7 leaders as he destroyed civil society. They made trade deals as he took over the largest corporations & spread corruption west.
No authoritarian regime is legitimate. As Masih says, don't ask why Iranians or Russians, et al, don't rise up against their well-funded and well-armed oppressors when those oppressors are usually funded, armed, and legitimized by the democratic leaders you freely voted for.
I remember. I don’t know who he’s talking about, but it doesn’t matter. From using tariffs to attack Brazil to defend a personal ally to threatening American citizens, Trump is confirming what we warned, that he will do whatever he is allowed to do. The GOP will downplay, again.
As I wrote about Putin 20 yrs ago, and Trump last month, an autocrat's illegal threats are tests. How hard is the pushback and from whom? What happens when the things people say Trump can't do or would never really do actually happen? Autocracy isn’t built in a day.
For years, I updated a list of things that "Putin would never" do according to Russian opposition and foreign politicians and experts—all things that he eventually did as soon as he was able without risking his power. Jailing Khodorkovsky, shuttering free media, etc.