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
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
No one could watch Bondi‘s performance, and that’s what it was, of stonewalling and trolling and think that she’s part of an administration that believes they will ever leave power or be held accountable.
This isn’t the typical lack of foresight of having procedural changes come back to bite you. This is a group so invested in shattering the institutions of American governance and in personal enrichment that there can be no way back.
Trump and Miller are openly talking about arresting opposing elected officials. They are attacking so-called corrupt judges, a term they use for anyone who disagrees with them in order to debase the word, which of course applies only to their own monumental looting campaign.
In our marches in Russia, we were adamant to avoid any sign of violence. Not one broken window, because we knew it’s what the regime wanted. They lined the streets with riot police, outnumbering us 10 to 1. But in the end, it didn’t matter. They simply criminalized all protest.
New "anti-extremism" laws passed, and peaceful protesting became a criminal charge with prison time, not a civil one with a fine. Judges were intimidated and any that didn’t automatically sentence protesters were soon removed. Opposition leaders were jailed, exiled, or murdered.
When we warned of Putin's rising dictatorship in the 2000s, we were dismissed as fearmongers, even hysterics, in the West. Now a similar process is underway in the US, with Trump following the Putin playbook. My latest in The Atlantic on fighting Putinization: 👇
Talking about 2028 is dangerously naive; the danger is now. Trump is directing the military and justice department to go to "war" on US cities and his enemies, from TV hosts to former FBI directors. Keeping the 2026 midterms fair may be the last stand. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
Those actively working for Trump's takeover are the clear and present danger, but complacency is also a threat. "He hasn't done x yet, so he won't" is a fallacy. Don't confuse an autocrat's attempts with his successes. "What would he do if not stopped?" is the right question.
What a joke. Trump has no plan for ending the war because his only idea is to give Putin everything he asks, which wouldn’t end the war at all. Europe and Ukraine know this. More importantly, Putin knows this and sees no reason to stop the killing he started.
Putin started the war in 2014, expanded it in 2022, and Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian civilians every day of Trump's time in office. The motives Putin had to try to destroy Ukraine are still there while no new reasons for him to stop have been created. Simple.
I and others have been listing the consequences Putin would need to face to end this war, and ways to create them, since 2014. The haven't changed much, but Europe and 3 different US presidents keep choosing failed alternatives out of ignorance, corruption, and cowardice.
I'm afraid you're too good for the brave new Putinized world of Trump, Mike! This is a business meeting, no foreign policy expertise required. Witkoff & Bessent, Russian finance guys, that's where the action is. Putin may toss in some Ukraine for show, at best.
Everything Trump does is about Trump. Not Ukraine, not America. This hasty and otherwise pointless and destructive meeting is no exception. It's for the Dear Leader's monetization and glorification. Rubio had to be there for token camouflage only.
Putin may grant Trump some Ukraine headlines to fulfill the glory requirement. The real goal is to normalize relations to enrich them both. Any deal signed with Putin's murderous dictatorship will end America's role as leader of the free world as much as a document of surrender.
Totally misunderstanding Witkoff's mission and Trump's entire agenda. Witkoff's only job is to make the most profitable deal for his boss, and he's competent at that.
The media is so used to standard narratives of national interests that they force everything into that framework even when it doesn't fit. Dictators like Putin and would-be autocrats like Trump don't care about "Russia" or "America", only their personal power, wealth, and image.
Struggling to see how Trump or Putin's decisions are good for their nations or people is pointless. They don't care. The top goal of the elected autocrat is to make the will of the people meaningless. Putin succeeded years ago and Trump acts like he's close--and he may be.