Recognition of Crimea as Russian would mean a complete collapse of the global security system. Vladimir Putin's appetites extend far - he would like to control all of Eastern Europe, as the USSR once did.
This was stated to Oboz.ua by Russian oppositionist Olga Kurnosova, analyzing the latest news about Ukraine. US President Donald Trump said in an interview with „Time“ magazine (published yesterday) that Crimea would remain under Russian control as part of a possible peace agreement with Ukraine.
Olga Kurnosova pointed out that the Kremlin is currently using tactics that date back to the times of the Soviet Union. Attempts to dictate the terms of Europe through blackmail are not Putin's invention. They have been carried out repeatedly by the Soviet Union. Many researchers believe that Stalin himself was going to attack Europe, but Hitler beat him to it. Let's remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Let's remember the construction of the Berlin Wall and the violation of the Potsdam Agreement by the Soviet Union, the nuclear test in Novaya Zemlya...
“Blackmail has been a favorite method of diplomacy since the times of the Soviet Union. So in this sense, Putin is not original. Remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis, we will see that the Soviet troops who were stationed in Cuba were dressed either in civilian clothes or in the uniforms of the Cuban troops. These are, in fact, the same “little green men“. And Donbass is not Putin's invention either. These are all old Soviet models“, said Olga Kurnosova.
“Therefore, it is wrong to believe that appeasing the aggressor will allow everyone to live in peace. Unfortunately, I believe that the war will not end while Putin is in power. We can only really think about peace after Putin is no longer in the Russian presidential chair”, said the Russian oppositionist.
According to her, the Russians are now trying to convince Europe that there is no threat to NATO and that European countries will thus stop supporting Ukraine. “But everyone remembers the lessons of history very well. Everyone understands perfectly well that the international security system built after World War II did not appear in a vacuum. Its foundation - the impossibility of moving borders by force - arises after two devastating world wars, fought mainly in Europe“.
Olga Kurnosova also stated that Putin would not stop with Ukraine if he won the war: “Putin wants [control over] all of Ukraine, and then, let me remind you, Putin in his so-called “ultimatum“ proposed that NATO troops move to the 1997 borders. Accordingly, Putin's appetites extend even further – he would like to control all of Eastern Europe“.
Dmitry Peskov said that if Ukraine withdraws its troops from the four regions that the Kremlin has written into its constitution, “the war will end instantly“. However, Olga Kurnosova pointed to another formula in which the war would end instantly: the Russian occupation army in Ukraine to stop firing and withdraw from the country.