Clarissa's Blog

Starting yesterday, Russian soldiers and members of Russian special forces present in the territory of Ukraine stopped concealing their identities and are now stating directly to anybody who cares to ask that they belong to the Russian military. Putin also admitted publicly for the first time that his troops were in the Crimea before the referendum and were crucial in making the referendum happen. A couple of weeks ago, he vehemently denied this but yesterday dropped the pretense.

So why the sudden change?

The reason why Russian troops no longer consider it necessary to hide who they are is that their presence in Ukraine has been accepted and approved by the United States.

The reason why Putin no longer considers it necessary to lie about invading the Crimea before the referendum is that his actions in Ukraine have been accepted and approved by the United States.

Yesterday, Ukraine was forced to sign the Geneva agreement according to which Ukrainians will disarm and cease all efforts to defend themselves in their own territory. Russia promises nothing and is guaranteed by this agreement the right to mess in the affairs of Ukraine as it sees fit. The agreement forces Ukraine to initiate a process of rearranging its territory in a way that will lead to an easier annexation of the Southeast of Ukraine by Russia. Russia undertakes to supervise this process lest it doesn’t facilitate further invasion as well as it should.

This agreement is nothing but a way for the US to save face. Of course, many Ukrainians will not disarm. They have been beaten, attacked, persecuted and assaulted by Russian troops in the streets of their own cities. If you were invaded by a foreign army, would you give up your gun (baseball bat, hunting rifle, knife, etc.) as a gesture of good will towards the invaders without getting anything in return? Obviously not.

And after Ukrainians refuse to relinquish their weapons, Russians will exclaim triumphantly, “Look, they broke the agreements! Our presence is sorely needed!” and the US will say, “Yes, Ukrainians broke the agreements, we can’t be expected to defend people who can’t even respect diplomacy.”

I know I only have very intelligent readers who won’t ask, “But why then did Ukrainians sign these agreements if they are so disadvantageous to them?” The idea of Ukraine fighting a war against Russia and NATO at the same time is understandably not very appealing to Ukraine. And if somebody experiences the need to ask why Ukrainians agreed to this, maybe that person could start by asking the Poles why they “agreed” to be part of the Soviet bloc or why Germans “agreed” for Berlin to be partitioned.

American foreign policy has led to a series of humiliating defeats in the recent stand-off with Russia. Yesterday, the US agreed to hand over Ukraine for Russia to colonize, rob and torture, as long as President Putin, in his infinite kindness and magnanimity, will allow Americans to pretend that they still have some influence in the region.