GM
After a nights sleep and now catching up on Zelenskyy's Fox interview. I'm going to focus on the media first.
1. X despite its criticism from many parties, including us here on NOSTR showed full unedited videos from the Whitehouse and Fox news while my own countries media, newspaper websites and legacy TV just showed photos or tiny clips with their own interpretation.
This is the problem we are all aware of. Give me the information, let me understand it directly, let me form my own opinion and then, if you absolutely have to, tell me your opinion. But I'm really not interested in your opinion.
So my views on the situation.
I've talked about the "Both sides being right" scenario many times and I first wrote about it in an article in 2016:
https://mikehardcastle.com/2016/09/08/sometimes-both-sides-are-right/
Russia have never wavered from the line that Ukraine joining NATO is unacceptable.
Europe (and previously the US) wanted Ukraine in NATO for its strategic position.
Ukraine fears its independence and so feels safer under NATO's umbrella.
This has played out with the current conflict and unless we want to escalate this to a world war, has resulted in a stalemate.
Ukraine is the sacrificial pawn, it, through no fault of its own is destined to pay a price.
Zelenskyy has yet to come to terms with this.
He will have to bow to America pressure and Trumps will, but he is not yet ready to do so.
I can understand this. Accepting loss is difficult.
Yes. This whole situation sucks for the people of Ukraine.... it has for a very long time.
From the perspective of the U.S., my question since the start of this war has been: is maintaining Ukraine's sovereignty vital to our national security? To be honest, I'm not smart enough to know the answer to this binary question. But, I am convinced that our half-assed involvement hasn't done (and almost never does) anyone any good (except for maybe the weapons dealers).
find the light in the grey. create a happy moment. paint your peace.
My best friend is Ukranian, he came to the UK when he was 12 years old, but has extended family and many friends in the Odessa region, a place called Chornomorsk.
We all went to his wedding there in 2007 and were going back in 2014 before it all kicked off.
My friend hates Russia and I have to respect how this affects him personally and the affect it is having on his family.
When he is not around, I have very different conversations with his English wife.
I got a fresh perspective when I visited Warsaw for a halving party April last year. We did a vintage bus tour around the city and it was explained how they are surrounded by countries that are opposed to each other. As a result Poland has regularly been the battleground and the victim in the many conflicts that have surrounded it.
Sometimes victims are inevitable.
It's easy to say that sometimes victims are inevitable when it's not your victims
True, but also still true.
Giving Ukraine to Russia wouldn't mean the end of victims because they don't treat conquered people well (as Donetsk and Donbas showed). We'll see what EU countries will come up with
I think we think very differently.
I generally don't like divisive statements like "them or us" or assumptive statements or assumptive conclusions based on biased observations.
I am unwilling, perhaps unable to pick apart your statements to the extent needed to submit a valid supporting or opposing view.
I have a Ukrainian friend, and she teaches me Russian, as it's her native language. She lives in Kharkov, the second biggest city after Kiev. I get the impression that most citizens of Kharkov consider themselves Russian, as they are Russian speakers. She never talks of herself as a victim, although I know that the war has made life for her family far more difficult (and that is an understatement). Victims are inevitable, but thinking of yourself as a victim is not inevitable.
