Thread by @GLandsbergis

The peacemongers have failed.
Escalation was not managed, conflicts were not contained, people were not protected, laws were not respected. Now I hear victory is "unrealistic" and not even worth fighting for. But I see things very differently, and here's why. 👇🧵1/10

The messy failure and total bankruptcy of our strategy is hard to watch. In desperation some hallucinate that a “peace agreement” would be achievable, effective, practical and sustainable, a magic wand to make all the bad things go away. 🧵2/10

Some hope a “peace agreement” would not only wash away our sins, but also make people forget that victory has always been possible. Sure, we could have won at any time, even now, but we chose to lose instead. Worse than that, we forced our choice on Ukraine. 🧵3/10

Now is the perfect time to remember the advice of Winston Churchill – We must choose between war and dishonour. We are choosing dishonour, and we will have war. 🧵4/10

We all agree Chamberlain made a mistake when he trusted Hitler to be happy with stealing only half a country. Being kind, we could blame naïveté. But today we cannot claim this defence. Repeating his mistake is a choice, it’s either stupid or cynical. 🧵5/10

World leaders often sit around tables discussing Ukraine without inviting Ukraine. The NB8 countries, sitting on Russia's border, are collectively the second largest provider of military aid to Ukraine but are sidelined too. 🧵6/10

Much hubris is required in order to ignore the advice of countries with decades or even centuries of experience of resisting the Kremlin, i.e. hundreds of years of crossed borders and broken “agreements”. We don't enjoy being right about this, we just ask that you listen. 🧵7/10

The "peace agreements" being floated would condemn millions of people to misery, occupation and fates worse than death. Talk of "recovery" is hollow if Ukraine is left vulnerable, waiting for the next attack. Investments will not flow, refugees will not return. 🧵8/10

Failure to defend our fundamental principles would simply project the West's weakness to all observers, inviting aggression from those who wish to exploit our apparent tendency to abandon non-NATO allies. War will follow dishonour. 🧵9/10

I therefore respectfully ask my colleagues to reconsider the huge benefits of saving our reputation globally by deploying our vastly superior resources to secure victory for our bravest and most capable ally, providing whatever it takes, with no hands tied. 🧵10/10