The American journalist and writer, Pulitzer Prize winner in 2004: “We must continue to supply Kiev, then it will be possible to negotiate”
Before the Russian missiles on Vinnytsia (24 dead including three children), it had happened in Kremenchuk (20 dead in the shopping center) and it is happening continuously in Kharkiv with theuse of cluster munitions on residential areas. On the night of July 1, when the Russians fired three anti-ship rockets at a nine-story building and a recreation center in Serhiivka, a small resort town in western Ukraine (with no ships or military installations), she also went there. Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
and naturalized Polish American historian, who wrote about it for the magazine The Atlantic. And she wondered if the term “war crimes” is the right one to define these now daily attacks on civilians in places far from the front and of no military significance. “When we Americans and Europeans think of terrorism, we think of” do-it-yourself “bombs or improvised weapons and extremist fringes … When we speak of state terrorism we generally speak of clandestine groups secretly supported by a state, such as the Iran with Hezbollah. But the Russian war in Ukraine blurs the distinctions between these things – terrorism, state terrorism and war crimes – because there is nothing covert or conspiratorial about these bombings …
Russia, a legitimate and recognized world power, a permanent member of the United Nations, exerts constant, repetitive and visible terrorist violence against civiliansmany of them far from the conflict ».
In the Donbass, two armies face each other for control of the territories. What is the objective of the Russian bombing of the rest of the country?
“The point of this continuing war against civilians, their property, infrastructure throughout the country is to weaken the Ukrainian state, impoverish the population, prevent reconstruction and continue to transform its inhabitants into refugees.”
President Zelensky called Russia “terrorist”. In your article, you note that designating her as such in the international arena would have serious legal consequences and would cut her off from the latest international forums in which it is possible to dialogue with Moscow. Do you believe that this is the way to go anyway, in light of the civilian casualties but also of the irreparable damage of each of these missiles to the system and to the values of international law?
“I think we have reached the point where more decisive and radical measures are needed. And yes, it is time to recognize that Russia has become a terrorist state ».
You believe that the only lasting solution is to defeat Putin. Because?
“Anyone who wants negotiations now is based on an unrealistic idea. Putin will not negotiate. Instead we must continue to make sure that the Ukrainians have weapons and ammunition, as has happened in recent days, and after the results on the ground it will then be possible to talk about negotiations … “
What results in the field? What would Kiev have to win back in order to negotiate?
“Certainly the South and parts of the Donbass …”.
And the inclusion in NATO?
«The only way to have permanent peace is to give Ukraine absolutely credible guarantees of security. One formula could be inclusion in NATO, but if for diplomatic reasons one chooses not to do so, other serious guarantees will be needed ».
Aren’t you afraid that the pro-Kiev western front may fall apart over time, also due to the absence of leaders like Boris Johnson or if Draghi does not remain prime minister?
«90% of the weapons and logistical support in Kiev come from the United States. What really matters is their support and I don’t think it will fail. European support is also important psychologically, but unfortunately Europe has chosen not to become a military, defense and security power ».
The sentence that Joe Biden uttered in Warsaw (“Putin cannot remain in power”) is not – she argued – a “gaffe”, but a reality of which the United States is now convinced. But the Russian leader had been underestimated. Can we identify the moment when Washington has returned to consider Russia a real threat?
“With Russian help to Trump in the 2016 elections. Today the Democrats are quite united in considering Russia a danger to Europe’s security and an ideological threat, also in light of the support for China, Iran and autocracies in the world. Even the far left, which does not like any war, has remained quite silent ».
July 16, 2022 (change July 16, 2022 | 22:34)
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