A Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin ‘deal’ won’t bring peace, just more Russification of Ukrainian children
Ukrainians cannot give up any more land and, thereby, subject countrymen to Russification, routine human rights abuses and the constant threat of violence and repression.
The experience of the past three-plus years of Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory – and the teachers, nurses, farmers, students, mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters who live there – reveals the stark reality of Putin’s ambitions and behaviours. Namely, Russia’s full-scale invasion has never been about security risks or taking over Ukrainian land, per se. For Putin, it is not about geography, but hegemony.
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Putin’s real aim is the elimination of Ukrainian statehood, identity and basic human dignity. He simply hates having a vibrant, modern democracy with a distinct history and culture as his neighbour.
The reality is that appeasing Putin not only rewards his illegal and savage actions to date but also enables his ethnocidal agenda against Ukrainians. It also emboldens his brutal brand of autocracy in the global arena, which seeks to undermine the democratic West, where Australia is deeply invested.
This is why Zelensky has highlighted that Ukraine’s Constitution specifically prohibits any secession of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory. This is why Ukraine’s European and other allies have publicly asserted that there can be no just peace or regional security without the full participation of Ukraine itself.
I thank Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for very clearly stating that Ukraine must be included in any discussion and for strongly noting that “it is Russia and Vladimir Putin who are the aggressor here”. It is Putin, he says, who has “breached international law, who has engaged in an illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine, who has taken action which has resulted in death and destruction in Ukraine. And Vladimir Putin can end all this tomorrow … by withdrawing behind his boundaries of Russia.”
The truth is that, no matter what transpires in Alaska, Ukrainians will continue to stand in defence of their way of life and their values – values they share with Australia – against unprovoked and unilateral aggression by Putin and his forces. To do otherwise risks great human harm and suffering, including to thousands of Ukrainian children kidnapped by the Kremlin.
“Deals” won’t bring peace. What will bring peace is containing rather than complimenting a mafioso and madman.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko is Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia.
