Ukraine should sever all economic relations with Russia.
Andrei Piontovsky was the first to notice the complete absurdity of the recommendation of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy to Russia’s leadership. Regarding Ukraine, the “flawless” tactics that were recommended were the ones well known to every authoritarian regime — “forced friendship.”
And if Ukrainians do not agree to be friends with the aggressor, then an economic blockade of Ukraine is to be imposed, following the example of the US blockade of Cuba. These are not simply revelations by the “empty suits” that make up the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.
And these are not simply the recommendations of opportunists who would think otherwise in the event of Putin’s death or overthrow. These are examples of the imperial mentality. I have known quite a few of the members of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy since 1991. I was present at their meetings dedicated to Ukraine. I was also present at their closed meetings (a key benefit of being a columnist for the leading Russian media!).
These people have always thought that way. And they won’t change their minds at Putin’s casket. The ones who come to replace them will be the same. Russia can only get a new elite in the event of complete economic and political collapse and a systematic process of “denazification,” as in Germany.
When a generation of schoolchildren grows up who are taught from the first grade about the atrocities of the Russian Empire and the USSR, about Holodomor, about the thugs of Stalin and Putin and the necessity of building a modern country — only then will we be able to see a partner in Russia and not an enemy. But this is still far away.
They will be forcing us to friendship using all possible means. And the only thing that saves us from the empire of rapists is the fact that we are not Cuba, and Russia is not the United States.
We should be the first to act. Systematically sever all economic relations with the aggressor, in addition to the ones he is interested in himself. No gas from Gazprom. No industrial supplies. No companies oriented toward the east.
Each such industrial plant is a ticking bomb. Sooner or later the blockade will begin anyway, the plant will cease production, and the workers will be in the street. And the guilty party will not the be the Russian government, which imposes the blockade, but the Ukrainian government, which fails to accommodate the aggressor.
I still keep seeing Russian partners who come to Ukrainian offices. Each such partner is a person who in the near future will become a part of the blockade and the “forced friendship.” It does not matter much where his personal interest lies. What matters is the kind of president he has. Do not sign contracts with Russians.
A Russian citizen may come to our country either as a guest of his relatives and friends or as a political refugee. But business contacts with Russian business should be excluded. Our economy should be focused on the West, on China — anywhere but Moscow!
We should make every effort to redirect the flows of citizens who go to work in Russia. Sooner or later these people will be detained and deported — all at the same time. And the more of them in Russia, the bigger the blow to our country in the event of a blockade. If the people themselves do not understand the danger, the state needs to understand it.
There will be no Ukrainian citizen in Russia except, of course, for the collaborators hiding from Ukrainian justice. These will not be deported. Plans are to send them to us in the event of a successful implementation of the recommendation of the “forced friendship.” So that they rule us. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
The members of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy have honestly told us what fate their besotted homeland is preparing for Ukraine. And if we lose this opportunity and fail to take the first step, we will be faced with new challenges and problems. And perhaps with a new war.
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