No Ceasefire During The Orthodox Easter
Day 58. The UN Secretary General announces a visit to Moscow to talk to Putin
Russia claims that Ukraine won’t negotiate and reply to the documents they have sent to discuss peace—Ukraine states that no documents have been received.
Russia is willing to let the civilians trapped in the Mariupol steelworks go if all the soldiers surrender themselves.
The Mariupol situation has always been a bad one from the start as we knew why the Russians wanted to focus on it, yet the West observed and kept sending aid that could never get through. You can’t blame Ukraine because they could only fight with what they had, and Russia has had 30 years to prepare for this invasion and Ukraine has only had a few where the government was not corrupt.
More people are realising that the UN is completely useless and that we were fooled into thinking it was an entity that could deter war, and that could step in and maintain peace. The UN has done neither, and with the Secretary General visiting Moscow to speak to Putin, I don’t expect that will yield any constructive results. Don’t forget that Russia was voted to be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council, and what impact has that had? ZERO.
As I said, all these politicians and leaders who think they can negotiate with Putin are wasting their time and this is costing the lives of civilians. They are all ‘Chamberlains’ (Neville Chamberlain, known as the appeaser who enabled the Second World War by failing to adequately address the threat by Hitler), thinking that diplomacy can work. It can only work when both parties seek a peaceful outcome (and with rational leaders) and it usually entails compromises. In this case, Russia has been adamant that it ‘owns’ the Donbas region and wishes to ‘save’ all the inhabitants in the region including the non-occupied areas, and also Crimea and will not even discuss these issues. Russia is concentrating all their forces there, and in Mariupol, but should they achieve this, then like Hitler, there is nothing to stop them from continuing to invade other regions.
If the UN can do something in Mariupol then great, but surely such an entity doesn’t need to be asked to intervene? Are they too afraid to send Peacekeeping forces in knowing that the volunteers will probably get kidnapped or killed?
The aid that Ukraine needed has come about 6 weeks too late, and it has been hard watching Zelenskyy beg other countries to help from the start. What happens in Mariupol is crucial, and each morning I wake up to see if the Russians have taken it, or whether a third party entity has intervened to rescue not only the soldiers and civilians, but also Mariupol or what is left of it. The Russians have occupied a large portion of the city, and with most troops in the east fighting in the Donbas region, there is little left for Mariupol. Even if they had the soldiers, they don’t have the weapons needed to defend themselves.
Should Russia take Mariupol, then it creates as we all know a dangerous link between the occupied regions. The West know this, and have been told of the consequences yet they have done little to help avoid the situation that Mariupol is now in. The displaced are moved to Lviv, which isn’t that much safer as the Russians have attacked there too.
What hope is there for a resolution? The inevitable, which is escalation because should Russia succeed in gaining Donbas, Mariupol and Odesa, then the target to take Ukraine will continue and only the direct intervention of allied forces can save Ukraine. Will Ukraine be another Austria, or Finland where they were forced to concede territory because they had insufficient arms to defend themselves? The West have the power to prevent this, yet have been reticent to use it.
With power comes great responsibility in making difficult and unpopular decisions for the greater good. If they are not up for the task in hand, then they should step down so that those who can do the job are in a position to save Ukraine, and the democratic world as we know it right now.
Day 58 (22 April)
The Organisation of American States (OAS) suspends Russia as an observer. It is a diplomacy group that focus on human rights, democracy, and security that was founded in 1948
The UK, US, and Germany have stated that they are training Ukrainian soldiers on how to use the weapons they are providing. All the countries are aware that the Russians may consider this act one of escalation, but as there are no official guidelines it is merely the narrative that Russia wishes to employ.
China have been warned by the US that if they offer assistance to Russia, they may face sanctions.
Russian forces have apparently obtained the confidential details and identities of those in the SBU (the special security forces of Ukraine). These were obtained in the occupied territory of Kherson when SBU personnel left. The Ria Novosti agency has allegedly published the identities and photos of the personnel.
Reports claim that Russia has seized control of 40 villages in the east. Zelenskyy states that this will be temporary.
The UK will reopen its embassy in Kyiv next week as other countries are also returning to Ukraine to reopen they embassies.
A meeting between the Pope and Patriarch Kirill has been suspended. The reason given is that the meeting may cause confusion.
The UN states that it has documented 50 deaths in Bucha (only 50?) and has received allegations of more than 300 unlawful killings. This is a classic case of red tape that deters justice.
Russia has again warned NATO countries that it believes it has a right to attack any convoys of weapons that are headed to Ukraine, or if countries aid them. Basically, they are threatening any country that helps Ukraine in any manner to defend themselves.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council spoke to Putin to try and negotiate a peace deal. As expected it was a waste of time if Macron admits he can’t do it then there is no chance of anyone else doing it. Putin states he will only meet with Zelenskyy if Ukraine would be agreeable to the solutions offered, and claimed Ukraine was inconsistent during negotiations.
Germany has replied to their critics who have said that the country has not done enough to help Ukraine, and is now offering heavy weaponry to Ukraine, to train soldiers, and also give a billion euros to buy weapons.
Ukraine has asked the UN to intervene to assist with evacuation corridors in Mariupol. To be frank, this should have happened weeks ago when the attempts kept failing due to the Russians attacking the corridors.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Moscow on Tuesday to discuss peace negotiations.
I don’t usually comment on the Ukraine crisis as I feel quite overwhelmed by the whole situation. Imo Putin is a loose cannon and cannot be trusted to adhere to any laws, making negotiations impossible. The UN is completely ineffective. I applaud the Ukraine’s defiance and their leader standing strong but sadly I cannot see a swift end to the conflict. Listening to their pleads for help is just heart breaking.
What good does supplying weapons do, if there is no one left to use them….