Throwing light on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, William Morris, Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation assesses the Russian position on Ukraine and the dangers that position represents. Short and crisp reflections and observations of current developments in the conflict region to that of the days of Florence Nightingale and the stance of the two nations, is explained in nutshell.
Well, I’m recording this on the 14th of November. And it is a little word about Ukraine, given the current situation now. I don’t know that you are aware or you may not be aware of the Russian position. And I just want to reiterate that because it is quite important, I think, to understand where the Russians are coming from, and they do talk to us on this very clearly. So, the Russians want legal guarantees of no further expansion of NATO alliances. To the east side, and guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO and NATO will not create military bases in post-Soviet countries. And they want the non-deployment of NATO strike weapons at the borders of Russia. Additionally, according to them, they weren’t the withdrawal of NATO forces in eastern Europe to the positions of 1997. Now, I think it’s very important to understand that when and you don’t have to agree with them, which is to understand the Russian position. When they talk about post-Soviet Union countries, they mean countries like Ukraine now that’s quite distinct from post-Soviet Bloc countries like Poland, and it’s an important distinction, one that we may not be aware of in the West but the Russians hold dear. Of course, there have other demands, key amongst which is if they hold on to the Donbass and Crimea I mean, when they’re talking about all this stuff, they cite the Tutzing formula. That’s the verbal commitment made by Germany and other nations, including Britain. That post-Soviet Union nations would not join use. It would not join NATO. And that was endorsed by the US Secretary of State at the time, James Baker. I mean, this is historic. It’s not now, but they remember it and hold on to it. So how do you deal with the Ukraine situation? Well, let me be blunt. The obvious solution is to have everyone including Russia recognize the autonomous status of the Luhansk and Donetsk also known as the Donbass within Ukraine. I think this is just the only answer. And just to be clear, something rather frightening because I don’t think people in the West are really aware of this. Will Russia use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine if driven back of course, she will. Is that not blatantly obvious? In the first Crimean War in the days of Florence Nightingale Russia sacrificed a quarter of a million dead. What will she sacrifice today? Everything so we have winter coming. It’s a pause. But we must consider the Russian position because it’s awesomely dangerous. Not to in my view, this is a short podcast, a short, sharp message, because these are dangerous times for the world in Ukraine Russia. Thank you
