Minsk III = World War III
On the battlefield soldiers die, while politicians battle in summits and lose their credibility, but live to see another day
The Three Stooges (Macron, Scholz, and Draghi) appear to be visiting Ukraine to propose a Minsk III to Zelenskyy. That is what it looks like as the all three countries have been mocked (France, Germany and Italy) for pursuing appeasement.
The alleged visit has been reported to be on 16 June (Thursday), but no country has confirmed this probably for security reasons. If it does happen, it will the day after the meeting of defence ministers, where discussions will have taken place on the Ukrainian requests for weapons.
Support for the appeasement path that has been promoted by the Three has been low, and mainly from the uninformed who don’t have the best grasp on the historical aspects of the war, or what France, Germany and Italy have actually provided in terms of weapons.
The French are criticizing Macron, and the Germans have been mocking Scholz for months now—if that is how the electorate view them, then they should expect the rest of Europe to have similar views. Even other European leaders are critical of all three, and that creates factions and tensions within the EU.
We should look back at what happened back in 1939-1940, when Germany bulldozed their way through Europe after the Munich Pact gave part of Czechoslovakia something for free. France, the Netherlands, and Belgium surrendered and basically waited for Britain and the US to save them. The problem is that appeasement suggests a surrender, and an unwillingness to fight, therefore, those who choose appeasement are not going to send weapons or approve measures (or drag their feet, such as pledges made for weapons to be delivered in a few months time).
These are some of the front pages 72 years ago, and is a testament to the failure fo appeasement and negotiations with a dictator.
We should also remember the Minsk Failures:
Minsk I - lasted less than 6 months where Minsk II was drafted. The OSCE Special Mission was active during the period and failed to deter or prevent further attacks.
Minsk II - failed almost immediately again, and the OSCE was in place for 8 years where pro-Russians had obviously been growing stronger under their noses. Macron still thinks the agreement is in place, yet Putin cancelled that by recognising the separatist regions as part of the Russian Federation.
Macron appears to be angling to draft a ‘Minsk III’ with Germany and Italy as the other mediators. Due to the failure of the last two, and the fact there is now a war on in Ukraine, this course of action appears to be foolhardy, stupid, and will cost more lives.
We must wait to see the outcome of the talks over the next few days, and Russia will react to them, or rub their hands with glee. While we speculate on what Macron, Scholz and Draghi will do and say, there is little indication that they are supporting Ukraine as fiercely as Poland and the UK are.
Day 110 (13 June)
More Ukrainian traitors have been uncovered in Lysychansk. About 50 people so far have been caught passing information about the Ukrainian military to the Russians on their phones. This is why a ceasefire will never work, because while traitors remain as spies, Russia can mont further attacks and they have been building their troops within for the last 8 years while the OSCE Special Mission observed and didn’t do as much as they could have.
Ukraine has charged the former mayor of Sviatohirsk, Volodymyr Bandura, of treason for defecting to the DPR after an ancient monastery was attacked and burnt down. Badura was seen oublicly supporting the Russian and claimed the Ukrainian army was behind the attck on the monastery.
Ukraine has created two routes where grain can be transported—through Poland and Romania. Although not ideal, it can help prevent a world food shortage, while Russia is shelling grain depots and destroying grain in Mykolaiv.
A second Briton has died fighting for Ukraine. Jordan Gately was a former British soldier and helped train soldiers in Ukraine and fought alongside them.
The self-proclaimed leader of the DPR claims there are no grounds to pardon the two British men who have received a death sentence for serving in the Ukrainian army. Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner face a death sentence in the mock court in Donetsk that no state recognises except for Russia (since 21 February 2022). The politicians are working hard on negotiations but the soldiers are valuable to the Russians as virtual political hostages. What we are seeing is traditional terrorist threats under the guise of a self-proclaimed court.
Russia has claimed it will not storm the Azot chemical plant but will expect the Ukrainians to surrender due to the civilians inside. This is a repeat of Mariupol and Azvostal where the soldiers were starved out, and forced to surrender so that the civilians could be evacuated.
Other European leaders have criticized Macron’s comments on ‘humiliating Putin’ and his preference for appeasement. Both the Polish and Czech Republic leaders have a better understanding of Russian brutality as both countries have been invaded by Russia and it wasn’t that long ago.
The Czech Republic Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky has said:
Putin doesn’t care how Russia is perceived in the West.
Macron probably doesn’t understand the issue very well.
The Polish president, Andrzej Duda has criticized both Macron and Scholz for trying to negotiate with Putin:
Did anyone talk like that to Adolf Hitler during World War 2? Did anyone say that dictator should save face? What should be done ,so that it is not humiliating for Adolf Hitler.
Ukraine has delivered a list of weapons that it is requesting the allies to supply, including 100 howitzers, 2,000 armoured vehicles, 200-300 multiple rocket launchers and 1,000 drones. Looking at the figure, they needed these back in February and the 20 sent here and there are helping, but they need more to win the war.
Defence ministers from around the globe will meet on Wednesday (15 June) in Brussels to discuss how to support Ukraine with weapons. The country cannot wait until October, when Germany say they will provide weapons, and it has been claimed that countries that have wanted to donate weapons (that had been bought from Germany) have been prevented from doing so as Germany as refused to give them permission.
Those solemn headlines from 72 years ago provide food for sobering thought.
The 3 wise monkeys, or rather the 3 unwise and devious pygmies.