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To see a list of previous articles, enter “Ukraine” in the Search Box on the upper right, on The Trenchant Observer web site, and you will see a list in chronological order.
Dispatches
1) Mark Galeotti, “Desperate Putin is deluded to think he can win; Insulated in his circle of yes-men, desperate to salvage his legacy, the Russian president is not ready to back down in Ukraine,” The Telegraph, May 28, 2022 (5:00 a.m.);
2) Simon Jenkins, “Britain’s Kafkaesque boycott of Russian culture plays straight into Putin’s hands,” The Guardian, May 27, 2022 (11:22 BST):
3) Bernardo de Miguel (Bruselas), “La UE sopesa activar una misión naval para liberar las exportaciones agrícolas de Ucrania; Bruselas teme una ham tuna en los países que dependen del trigo bloqueado por Rusia en los silos y puertos ucranios,” El País, el 27: de mayo 2022 (23:40 EDT);
4) Klaus Geiger und Gregor Schwung, “Trotz Versprechungen liefert Deutschland seit neun Wochen kaum Waffen, Die Welt, den 28 Mai 2022 (16:38 Uhr);
Commentary
Armed naval escort to lift the blockade of Odesa (Odessa)
Bernardo de Miguel reports that the UE is considering using armed escorts to lift tge siege of Odessa in order to allow grain to be exported from Ukraine to countries in desperate need of this critical food supply.
Such an armed escort would raise the possibility of direct military confrontation between Western and Russian military forces, and would also be dangerous because of the mining of Black Sea ports and harbors.
Nonetheless, such convoys may be necessary to stand up to Putin and to feed the world.
Desperate Putin?
Mark Galeotti paints a picture of a desperate Vladimir Putin who cannot win the war.
Cultural ties with Russia and the need to strengthen People-to-People friendship ties with Russians
This is not a time to cut off cultural ties with Russian artists, writers, musicians, and individual athletes. Understandable as it may be, the expression of anti-Russian sentiment in the West may only delay the day when Russians act to replace Putin. It is critically important not to give credence to Putin’ narrative that the West is at war with Russia.
What we need to make clear is our abhorrence for the actions of the Russian state, and our condemnation of Russians who support the invasion of and commission of war crimes in Ukraine.
The message must be that it is their behavior that we condemn, not the fact that they are Russian, or that they have a right to be a strong country.
We simply demand that Russia act in accordance with international law and the U.N. Charter and that it comply with the norms of international humanitarian law and the law of international human rights. There is nothing anti-Russian about that.
Indeed, now is good time to strengthen ties with individual Russians who do not oppose these modern requirements of a civilized nation.
The Trenchant Observer
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See also,
Only force can stop Putin
“Ukraine War, April 5, 2022 (II): Force must be used to stop Putin,” The Trenchant Observer, April
