Kurt Volker: 'Putin would escalate today if he could'

Kurt Volker, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, advocating for more decisive Western policies. The Kyiv Independent interviewed Volker in Kyiv on Feb. 23, discussing the blocked Ukraine aid in U.S. Congress, Donald Trump's potential return to the presidential office, and the West's biggest miscalculations in Russia-Ukraine war.

[walshaland]

Never heard such bolloxollogy. Talking out the side of his mouth. Putin is laughing all the way because of cowardly west. Only thing a bully understands is being met with force.

[sebastianlahns]

strange the russians do not set themself limits

[MJGMJGMJG]

You are not avoiding escalation, you are escalating as much as you can get away with without triggering the other side to escalate to the nuclear threshold. He believes Putin would escalate if he could, so if the white house could escalate, then they would escalate as well, if they could. And he disagrees with the argument about limitations; would he preferred to have all out war between NATO and RU?

[Yand]

Tell that to the civs on the frontline

[emmanueldaillet]

Kurt Volker is absolutely right. Caution does not mean fear. And our policy seems inspired more by fear than caution.
You may think that Putin himself does not understand why Nato does not draw a clear red line to its invasion, as we did when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

A/ This kind of hazardeous and somewhat unpredictable diplomacy does not send clear messages to illetrate Russian nationalists.

B/ Russia has to be much more strongly politically helped than post 1945 Germany. Why ?
1/ since 1917 till 1989, USSR peoples including Russians have suffered deep traumas periods we, even today, do not realize. One quarter have gone through prisons and Gulag, let alone famine and brainwashing.
2/ Eltsine was a former communist who fell into the large trap of hurrying towards liberalism, when his Russia had not even recovered from Afghanistan human disaster and had no idea how to deal with liberal economics. What we did then was a kinda exported 1929 scale anarchy tsunami, crushing the last hopes of a very poor and aging population, offering mafias and ex-communist tremendous opportunities to steal their state companies and military stocks.
3/ We did almost nothing to reenforce press freedom, political pluralism, democratic institutions. When Eltsine waged war against Chechnya, what was western reaction ? Going on with support of Eltsine. All Russians then understood that western democracies wanted only to buy at low prices their country, without any care of state of right if only to reduce a growing corruption. Putin is the son of this huge disappointement, as salaries and social funds were dramatically dropping. No Marshall plan !
4/ Now when everything is clear (destroyed Chechnya, Moldavia, Georgia, Ukraine occupied and clearly devasted, war economy in Russia) we do not seem even to take the minimal decisions to repulse the Russians...

What are we waiting for ? That the next Putin, considering our cowardness, dares to use nuclear weapons ? That the rest of the world decides to take arms to settle their local borders (cf. Venezuela Guyana) or minorities problems (China, i.a.) ?

Weakness is ALWAYS the worst mistake.

[eviv]

мы даже не начинали войну а у них уже паника

[AAB]

Kurt is a trump supporter. He defends him over & over. Use to have respect for this guy. No more!

[joebish]

Perhaps the USA shouldn't have started this conflict in the first place, and then this conversation wouldn't have been necessary.