Putin’s Appeal to U.S. Audience Duplicitous

By Dr. Lucja Cannon Friday, 23 February 2024 10:33 AM EST

In his Tucker Carlson interview, Vladimir Putin gave a two-hour historical lecture, which was tedious and cynical because it contained all his previous propaganda themes, beginning in the 1990’s, illustrating his obsession with distorted Russian imperial history.

While expounding on this mishmosh of facts and fiction, he emphasized the victimhood of Russia and how all wars Russia ever conducted were defensive and fully justified.

But as diplomat and former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski used to say: one does not become the biggest country in the world by being defensive.

Most of his exposition was concerned with proving that Ukraine always belonged to Russia. He expounded how Ukraine is not a real country as it shares with Russia common language, history, culture, religion and economy and many of its lands were appropriated from Russia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

Putin cannot accept that the Ukrainians chose to be associated with the West rather than Russia in 2014, so he claims that the Maidan revolution was created by the CIA.

It formed a division between the united Russian and Ukrainian people and resulted in supposed Ukrainians attacks in 2014 and 2022. Russia wanted peace but it was Ukraine who wanted to resolve these issues by military force.

The quality of his historical discourse is illustrated by Putin’s example of Poland, which he obscenely claims, was aligned with Hitler and was responsible for the outbreak of World War II.

Rather the opposite is true.

It was the Hitler-Stalin Pact of Aug. 23, 1939 which created the coalition to invade and partition Poland, and therefore trigger World War II.

Putin needs his fantasy, because he cannot otherwise explain away this great demonstration of Russia’s aggression and responsibility in recent history.

Further, he claims that after the fall of Communism, Russia was not welcomed by the Western family despite of the removal of the ideological divide.

While the West thinks that it did everything for Russia that it could in the 1990’s to help with its transition, Putin gives an example of a most painful rejection: President Clinton said that Russia could not join NATO.

All these small countries in Eastern Europe joined NATO but Russia was rejected, an illustration of supposed traditional Western hostility.

At some point, Tucker asks Putin whether he’s expansionist, whether he plans to invade Poland. Putin claims he’s not interested in invading Poland.

But this is what he said about Ukraine, Georgia, and Chechnya.

Then he proceeded to invade them.

Putin also may intend to invade Poland.

He moved his nuclear weapons to Belarus near the Polish border, constantly launches cyberattacks against Polish institutions, and has placed murderous Iskander missiles aimed at Warsaw, in the neighboring Kaliningrad.

He adds that he would only invade if Poland if it attacked Russia first.

Considering his record, this is not in the least reassuring.

But the main and most interesting part of the Putin’s interview occurs when he addresses Tucker Carlson’s U.S. audience, making his offer for the resolution of the Ukraine war.

Putin says, “This is an attempt to stop it.”

In order to stop the fighting, Putin calls on the U.S. government to cease funding military aid to Ukraine, this just as such a piece of legislation is currently in the U.S. Congress.

He wants Ukraine or the U.S. to approach him for negotiations.

But first, they must respect and recognize Russia and its interests just as it sees itself: a great and separate civilization with mythical history as defined by Putin.

Russia is powerful but not aggressive. It is the west who is fear mongering he claims.

So does Russia have any conditions for these negotiations?

Were any of its aims not yet realized? Carlson asks.

Putin answers: de-Nazification and explains that Ukrainian nationalists under leadership of Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych collaborated with Hitler during the World War II and murdered Poles, Jews, and Russians.

Now they are being celebrated in Ukraine as false national heroes; this is unacceptable to Russia. He recalls an example of a Ukrainian Waffen SS soldier being celebrated in the Canadian Parliament last year by Zelenskyy and his delegation.

Putin tells the American elite: the world is changing, the United States is no longer the most powerful, and it’s inferior to our friend China.

So do not pressure us but negotiate.

He wants the U.S. to lift Western sanctions and financial restrictions against Russia, so it can sell gas to Europe and conduct financial transactions without hindrance.

Putin’s position seems to be: remember Russia’s victory is inevitable; your policies are erroneous, be ready for a dialogue on my terms.

Even though Putin claims that U.S. hegemony is at an end, his actions say the opposite.

That’s why he is appealing to American voters because the future of Ukraine will be decided here in the next presidential election.

He’s appealing to them to stop the bloodshed, not by negotiations but by positing terms of Ukraine’s surrender.

The West seduced Ukraine, Putin wants it back.

If only the United States withdraws, Putin will be able to deal with ungrateful Ukrainian secessionists and these weakling Europeans.

Afterwards, friendly relations can be restored.

This is Putin’s demand to the American audience. But what is the real situation?

Ukraine defended its independence and fought the Russians to a stalemate, which is a victory, considering a difference in their military potentials.

Russia cannot win.

Putin can’t tolerate that.

He needs a clear victory and can’t stop short of it.

Since he can’t impose his solution on Ukraine, he wants to win this war politically in the United States.

His monologue with the radical inversion of facts and sophistry is supposed to convince the Americans of his reasonableness and desire for business as usual.

But an agreement with this personification of duplicity and subversion will only mean the postponement of confrontation to a less convenient date.

Putin virtually never keeps his word. Any settlement will be very difficult.

[Article originally appeared here]