We are witnessing, literally watching live, Putin commit genocide on an industrial scale in Ukraine while the most powerful military alliance in history stands aside. It's impossible not to be emotional, but let us also be rational and focus our rage on the facts. 1/13
Putin once again told Macron to go to hell, no surprise. NATO/EU has already told Putin they won't touch his forces, so why should he listen? Russia is lifting target limitations and the death toll is rising every hour and lack of water & electricity is critical. 2/13
No treaty forbids NATO nations from fighting to defend in Ukraine. It's a choice based on the risk of Putin going nuclear, many say. That arming Ukrainians is an acceptable risk of WWIII & the citizenship of the pilot or soldier changes Putin's nuclear calculus, or NATO's. 3/13
If they care so much about the fine print and think Putin does too, ask Zelensky to issue Ukrainian passports to any volunteer to fly in combat. Sell jets to Ukraine for €1 each and paint UKR flags on them. Do you think Putin will care? Is it worth the lives lost? 4/13
This is already World War III. Putin started it long ago & Ukraine is only the current front. He will escalate anyway, and it's even more likely if he succeeds in destroying Ukraine because you have again convinced him you won't stop him even though you could. 5/13
Biden & others insist NATO would retaliate should Putin attack Baltic members. Watching Ukraine, I am not sure of that at all, and Putin won't be either. If the calculation is about nuclear risk, it's no different over Estonia than Ukraine. Don't say "Putin would never". 6/13
If this sounds familiar, it's the same argument from 2014, when Putin invaded E Ukraine and annexed Crimea. It was too risky to stop him, I was told, as I pleaded for intervention and warned he would never stop there. Here we are, with bombs raining down. 7/13
Risk and costs are higher now because the "reasonable" people in the West always choose lower risk today to guarantee higher risk tomorrow. Clearing the UKR skies after a warning period is risky. Letting Putin destroy Ukraine is riskier, & a human and moral disaster. 8/13
There is no waiting this out. This isn't chess; there's no draw, no stalemate. Either Putin destroys Ukraine and eventually hits NATO with an even greater catastrophe, or Putin falls in Russia. He cannot be stopped with weakness. 9/13
The corridors to get weapons, food, and medicine in and refugees out are narrowing and can be closed. Putin can bomb the trains, close the borders with NATO nations. The odds of Russian forces hitting a NATO asset are increasing, and then what? Still watching? 10/13
If your answer is no, that if a wing of a RU jet crosses Polish airspace, of course NATO will engage immediately, ask why thousands of Ukrainians civilians dying first matters less than a treaty, and what that says to Putin. That you're honorable, or a fool? We know. 11/13
As I said in 2014 and a fateful week ago, the price of stopping a dictator always goes up. What would have been enough to stop Putin 8 years or 6 months or 2 weeks ago is not enough today, and the price will rise again tomorrow. Fight. Find a way. 12/13
Putin vows to exterminate Ukrainians while we watch. Ukraine did nothing wrong but try to join the democratic world that is now witnessing crimes against humanity in real time. Not unable. Unwilling. #CloseTheSky 13/13
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🎯 Ceasefires and negotiations are a way of telling Russia you are weak. Dictators act only from strength and assume others do the same. If you wanted them to stop and were strong enough to stop them, you would. If you don't, it's a green light.
Realize this is not a failure of Trump's negotiations. This is the actual point of Trump's negotiations, to protect Russia & Putin and to divide Ukraine into pieces and assets. There is no longer a charitable interpretation. It's Russia & USA vs Ukraine and Europe.
I'll keep repeating this because I still see people speaking as though Trump has been tricked by Putin or that he and his incompetent administration are just ignorant. No. Trump & Musk are taking instructions and working to save Putin & Russia and to destroy and loot Ukraine.
My new op-ed in @Welt on the need for Europe to prepare itself to wage war--without Trump's pro-Kremlin America. This will require matching Ukraine's level of courage, and now. | Garri Kasparow: "Europa muss bereit sein, Krieg zu führen" welt.de/debatte/plus25…
This WH's contempt for Europe was again on display in the "secret" chat. Trump is fulfilling everything on Putin's wishlist, so Europe needs a checklist to stand up to Russian aggression. It cannot wait and hope for when Trump & his gang leave power.
Items include: Shut down Russia's oil shadow fleet; suspend Hungary's voting rights & EU aid; form a European defense bloc separate from NATO; arm Ukraine to the teeth, the only way real peace will ever happen.
How far down is the Trump admin on the autocracy fuckup checklist? Deny, lie, attack the source, attack the media, say it was someone else, say it was no big deal, say it was a brilliant maneuver, boast about it, create new scandal. Let’s see how good at Putinization they are.
Never admit error, never apologize, always double down, always counterattack, always distract. It’s better to be twice a liar and do more damage than for Dear Leader to show weakness by admitting error or apologizing to those harmed.
Trump appointed amateurs and known security risks whose only job is to please him and Senate Republicans enthusiastically confirmed all of them. Realize that Goldberg is the tip of the iceberg. It was a lucky fluke. The stupidity and corruption you don’t see is far bigger.
A core point we’ve been trying to make for years is that "let Ukraine win" hasn’t been tried yet. From Obama’s naive peace-mongering to Biden & Europe's love of the status quo to Trump’s open embrace of Russia's goals, Ukraine winning simply hasn’t been given a chance.
The absurd idea of Russian invincibility was collapsed by Prighozin’s mutiny, Ukraine’s Kursk op, Russia's need for Iranian & NK weapons and even NK soldiers, and the tiny amount of UKR territory taken against massive RU casualties. All despite regularly starving UKR of support.
Meanwhile, despite European profiteering with trade with secondary countries, Europe funding Putin’s war with energy purchases, China's support, and now Trump holding out opening US trade and lifting sanctions, Russia continues to implode, as all dictatorships must.
This whole conversation takes place in an alternate universe where Russia didn’t invade Ukraine unprovoked, bombard Ukrainian cities to the ground, commit thousands of documented war crimes, or couldn’t end the war tomorrow if Putin chose to.
Trump makes demands of Ukraine and even removes resources vital for its defense. Russia demands impossible concessions that would become the end of Ukraine as an independent nation. Meanwhile, no demands are made of Russia, no concessions asked.
Does anyone who has watched Trump in action over the last two months believe for a moment he has the capacity or desire to negotiate a tough agreement with Vladimir Putin? Everything from this White House has been about how to force Ukraine to surrender and reward Russia.
The question is if Witkoff is there to represent American interests or Trump and Musk’s personal interests. Is this to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, or more strategizing on how to help Russia take over Ukraine?
Putin doesn’t care what he’s saying, btw. This isn’t a calibrated or as he put it "nuanced" statement. It’s a middle finger, making demands on Ukraine, agreeing to nothing. He’s getting what he wants already and Trump is not applying real consequences to anyone but Ukraine.
Throughout all of this posturing, please remember and repeat that Putin and Russia started this unprovoked war and invasion of Ukraine and could end it tomorrow simply by going home. Russia doesn’t deserve a single inch of Ukraine taken by conquest.