Does it matter who’s right? For those involved in the conflict, of course. Because they are at war in the name of their truth. Whose truth is right? Well, we usually only find that out afterwards. History is written by the victors. Whoever wins will be right. And that’s why there are slim chances for peace in the near future. Because those involved will go to the grave for their truth.
Of course, the Ukrainians are right. Russia attacked Ukraine. There is nothing to relativize in this. The Ukrainian soldiers are defending their country. We Hungarians would do this as well. We must always keep this in mind, no matter what we think about the conflict.
But from here we can start analyzing. As you should. Naturally, this conflict did not erupt out of nothing. Russia didn’t just attack Ukraine out of nowhere. The American measures that lead to this war – the ways in which they angered Russia against Ukraine and manipulated the Ukrainian people and global public opinion has been the subject of analysis for years (at least for those interested in reality). In one of my former videos, I thoroughly present the reasons and circumstances for the outbreak of this war.
Russia is correct in that a great power was unwilling to accept its geopolitical status and used a third country for these purposes.
And this third country played its own part in the story. It wanted to break out of the Russian bear hug – so it did not reject the United States’ hug. Which included jointly weakening Russia. And the Russian bear responded with “nyet”.
The USA instigated a local conflict, or rather, saw the potential to assert its own interests in an existing local conflict. So, it did everything it could to heat up the longstanding “lukewarm” tensions into a full-scale war – even risking world war. Of course, the sacrifice will be made by the Ukrainians. It is a financial burden for the US as well as they are putting billions towards Ukraine, but they see it as an investment. Zelensky himself said this in his speech at the national congress, and the American leaders backed this up. And this investment is certainly worth it for the US. They can push Russian raw materials out of the European market and force Europe to mainly buy from the US at much higher prices. With the consequential energy crisis and rising prices in Europe, the competitiveness of factories, plants and production companies here is significantly reduced, allowing American companies to swoop in. Also, many European companies will transfer production to them.
It is not difficult to figure out why the leaders of the EU have partnered in this self-destructive, “continental betrayal” (it would be an exaggeration to call Europe our homeland). Especially in light of how many EP representatives were arrested (and there will likely be more) in connection with the Qatar scandal. Do you think only Qatar is able to bribe these degenerate, inbred politicians living for their own purposes? The USA is doing the same thing – possibly with more sophisticated methods, but much more money. Maybe they don’t reveal mistakes with briefcases full of cash like in Eva Kaili’s situation. Rather, you have board memberships and vaccine contracts arranged via SMS as in the case of Ursula von der Leyen, her husband, and Pfizer. One way or another, the EU’s pro-war leaders are all corrupt, bought people.
And there is another aspect: morale. They have managed to convince the Western world that the heroic Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom against the evil (and crazy, cancer-stricken, already dead, etc.) Putin. This black and white narrative with its personified demon sells well in the media. And the masses who are not that particularly receptive to the more complex connections of the world, and the luxury of thinking in general, easily accept it. They do not fully comprehend what war involves. Especially war in the neighborhood. On the one hand, they believe that there is good and bad in war – and if we cheer loudly enough for the good guys, then they will eventually win and there will be a happy ending, like in the fairy tales. And we are just watching everything. On the other hand, they think Facebook profile pictures can fight a war. And morale. But war is fought with tanks, weapons and ammunition. And people die. Many people.
It is shocking how many people do not understand this. They explain with complete conviction that more weapons sent there will bring peace. This is a total misrepresentation of the fact that a strong military is the key to peace and security. This is indeed true during peace times as the status quo. A strong military is a deterrent, preventing against potential attacks. However, if battles are already underway, they will not end with more tanks and ammunition sent to the front. The only way to reach peace at that point is if the parties come to some sort compromise. First, they establish a ceasefire and then, after mutual concessions, create a new status quo.
“So, we should’ve come to an agreement with Hitler too?” goes the cheap argument. Again, this is a complete misrepresentation of history and of today’s geopolitical-military conditions. It was impossible to make peace with Hitler and nobody wanted to. The man aiming for world power, looking to completely rewrite the status quo, and unwilling to waver in his mission for Nazi Germany had to be defeated. And then peace had to be forced (not agreed upon). In this case, more weapons and more soldiers were the solution. And they succeeded. Just that Germany did not have nuclear weapons (in fact, no one had any until 1944).
Obviously, forming an opinion on Russia is subjective. We have a lot of legitimate grievances and bad experiences, especially among our parents’ generation (and more so our grandparents’) in connection with the evil deeds committed by the Soviets. Whether Russia is behaving like the Soviet Union of yore, if Putin is the modern-day Stalin... this can also be debated. This debate would be the subject of another article though. But if someone is capable of looking past their emotional reactions and objectively examining the past two decades of Putin and Russia, then you can see that the country’s interests are enforced economically and its spheres of interest are maintained, with completely different, cheaper, more efficient and more sophisticated means than the military. An assessment of morality can stir up exciting philosophical moments, intellectual satisfaction, and mental masturbation, but there remains an important fact:
Russia has atomic weapons. And quite a lot. The most in the world. Russia cannot be defeated.
It never was – and the old Western leaders capable of thinking knew this. You could economically break the Soviet Union because it operated with very poor efficiency. They wastefully exploited their natural resources and the maintenance of their armies stationed in other countries ate up endless funds. Russia’s economy today can be criticized on many points: corruption, oligarchs, too heavily reliant on exporting raw materials. But on one hand, Russian operates much more efficiently now (in part thanks to the Western technology, investments and know-how there) and on the other hand, has undergone a long, successful journey towards diversification and the ability to be self-sufficient. Anyone who doesn’t see that is economically illiterate and, as such, unfit for major political decisions. Yes – the Western politicians implementing one sanction after the other are exactly that. Not only can Russia not be defeated militarily, but it also cannot be broken economically either at this point.
And you don’t have to believe that either. You can call those who say this Putin-propagandists. But then apparently the IMF is in Putin’s pocket as well. Because they are predicting minimal economic growth (0.3 percent) for 2023, and by 2024 over two percent. Last year at this time, Western broadcasters were delirious about a 20 percent drop by 2022. Of which they barely got 1-2 percent. Russia truly cannot be defeated. So, shouldn’t we find some kind of solution after all? To prevent tens of thousands from dying, millions from becoming homeless, and an entire country from perishing?
But no. The word “peace” is not even uttered. Or rather, those who dare to say it become the object of contempt. What a joke, isn’t it? Those who want peace are “evil.” And the ones saying that are those who, a year and a half ago, were screaming over the fact that Hungary was boosting its military by buying tanks and manufacturing helicopters.
According to those against peace, borders are inviolable. Interestingly, those same beautiful souls have no problem with Trianon.
However, Hungary’s Trianon losses – in proportion – were far bigger than the Ukrainian territory occupied by the Russians. And we had far lower proportions of minorities living in those territories as there are Russians in Donetsk, Luhansk, and especially Crimea. The vast majority of residents in these areas is Russian who were treated nastily for years. And another question must be posed: is territorial integrity more important than human lives? Or, it doesn’t matter how many people die so that one day the yellow-blue flag can wave on the Crimean bridge again?
But why are some people cheering so hard as if they were watching a football game? (Beyond the fact that they cannot comprehend the horrors of war.) Well, we must distinguish the different types of fans. There are the otherwise well-intentioned, upstanding, “true conservatives”. They are incapable of forgiving the Soviets – and rightly so. They shouldn’t. But by some odd logic, or perhaps some deceitful instinct, they imagine that in the current war, we can somehow get our revenge through the Ukrainians. That Putin will get his punishment. (Really the punishments due to Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Andropov, Brezhnev, etc.) But the sad truth is, we won’t get back the last 45 years that the Soviet-Russian soldiers stole from us. If we do not accept reality and we try to “get back at” Putin by not buying any gas or oil, we shoot our own economy in the foot and loose another few decades.
The other brigade looking to send more and more weapons instead of establishing peace while cheering for the Ukrainians on the couch with their flag-adorned profile pictures are the paid liberals. They are funded, mainly by the US, to act as local servants of American corporate interest – oil companies, arms factories, investment funds. Their political agitation and actives contribute to the weakening of not only Russia, but also of Europe, thereby making the latter completely vulnerable and dependant both militarily and economically on the United States.
And finally, we have to address the Russian fans as well. The Russians didn’t become good guys. It is undeniable that in this conflict they are right in many more aspects than the Western world cares to admit. From their perspective it is absolutely understandable that they could not allow NATO to establish a bridgehead in Ukraine. But despite this, it is very grave what they are doing to Ukraine. Yes, the difficult question arises: what else could they do? They knew that Ukraine – while not a formal NATO member but fully equipped with US political and military support – was preparing to attack and take back the Russian-populated territories. And who knows what else they would have done to weaken Russia.
So, there are no good guys in this conflict. Instinctively, one tends to side with those who were attacked. But it would be much easier to sympathize with Ukraine if they gave even the slightest reason for sympathy.
Photo: MTI/EPA/Szerhij Seszták
