The famous historian scores the White House plan. “Five Fundamental Mistakes”

American historian Timothy Snyder said on Friday that the peace plan for Ukraine that is circulating in the media is essentially a Russian project that was translated into English by Americans and is promoted by the White House.

Snyder, in the recording published on Friday, said that in the current version of the plan there are at least five fundamental flaws and the plan cannot work. He calls the project “a Russian settlement for Ukraine that is currently being promoted by the White House.”

Firstly – according to the expert – this proposal makes nuclear war much more likely. – If Ukraine is forced to accept conditions that amount to defeat and capitulation, the rest of the world will learn from it. And the conclusion is that we need to build nuclear weapons to stop a Russian invasion or a Chinese invasion or someone else who has nuclear weapons, he added.

– Forcing Ukraine to capitulate means the spread of nuclear weapons, Snyder believes. This, in turn, means a higher risk of nuclear war. – You can't bring peace if you bring about a nuclear third world war – argued the historian.

Second mistake according to him, it concerns the international order. – The basis of international order is that there are states, states have borders that cannot be violated by invasion. This happens from time to time, but these are exceptions. Even more special would be to support this by rewarding Russia for invading Ukraine. If this happens, as the current agreement envisages, it creates a world where invasions and wars become the norm, Snyder continued.

According to him third mistake concerns peace in the region. – If Russia is rewarded for the attack on Ukraine and if the conditions for settling (the conflict) in Ukraine make Russia stronger, Russia will be encouraged in every possible way, legally, morally, psychologically, economically, to continue waging wars in Europe, the expert believes.

Another mistake has to do with future reconstruction. – Peace does not mean only a temporary absence of fighting. I don't doubt for a minute that Russia would accept a ceasefire of a few minutes, days, or maybe even weeks in exchange for the assumption that Ukraine would capitulate. But to bring peace, Ukraine must be able to defend itself, belong to international institutions, be sovereign and be a country that can rebuild, Snyder said. He assessed that the current version of the peace plan did not assume this. He emphasized that Ukraine must be a country that can join the EU and attract foreign investments.

Fifth and final point it is about the process itself. He emphasized that history shows us that long-term peace cannot be achieved without the involvement of the people concerned, in this case Ukrainians, in the process. – They were not consulted on this plan. This is a Russian plan translated into English by Americans, Snyder said. – If you don't involve the most important people, don't understand certain issues, don't have the necessary information and you can create conditions in which they have no choice but to fight and then the problem is not solved – he said.

Another important group that Snyder says should be involved in this process is allies. – If Ukraine is to be defended and rebuilt when there is peace, Ukrainian allies must be involved, and they are not, he noted.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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