When anyone tells you that Ukrainians should trade land for peace, remember: On that land, people have been subjected to arrest, torture and murder - and still are.
To mark the war's first anniversary I wrote about the nature of the Russian occupation, together with Nataliya Gumenyuk, who runs the Reckoning Project
@anneapplebaum It's an incredible suggestion, isn't it? Should they be expected to trade children for peace as well? Surely even the subject of negotiations can't raised before every single kidnapped child is returned unharmed.
@pieist @anneapplebaum Yeah, they are the victims of a hostile invasion. And people just want them to capitulate? What is to actually stop russia from invading further?
@atomic @anneapplebaum
As they have done routinely in the past. When Russia asks for "peace" they mean "time to solidify our gains and regroup."
@pieist @atomic @anneapplebaum
“...Georgia was followed by Crimea. Look at the pictures of Grozny or Aleppo. Compare them to Kharkiv & Mariupol. Why do they look so similar?
Because Putin sees every off-ramp provided to him by the world as an entrance on the road to his next target.
We must, after 2 decades, learn the lessons Putin has taken such pains to teach us...
Either we stop him this time or he will do this again.”
https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1505388936096587784
@ZhiZhu @pieist @anneapplebaum Agreed 100%
@pieist @anneapplebaum Exactly, why would anyone believe Russia would stop now when they already promised they would stop after Crimea. Ukraine tried that route once before, and they are still under invasion. The statement fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me comes to mind.