Boris Johnson, Ukraine and the Falklands – Opinion

The war in Ukraine will be a source of study for historians for decades.. Even now, two and a half years later, we are beginning to see investigations into some of the big moments that characterized the early days of the conflict, shedding light on the confusing tangle of information that emerged at the time. Military analysts, for example, have already been able to reconstruct some of the most critical battles from the early days of the war.
A study, published last week by the historian Sergiy Radchenko and the political scientist Samuel Charapfocuses on the little-understood but momentous peace negotiations that took place between Russia and Ukraine in the spring of 2022 to end the conflict.
These negotiations, which took place mainly in Istanbul, have become the focus of critics of the war in the United States, who often claim that the West, and in particular then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, sabotaged these negotiations and prevented a successful ceasefire. Vladimir Putin will continue to make a similar argument in his interview with Tucker Carlson.

PRESENCE OF JOHNSON

Boris Johnson, this figure who recently visited our country, intervened spectacularly in the war in Ukraine. In addition to hindering peace negotiations in 2022, these days are putting pressure on Keir Starmer and Joe Biden to allow kyiv to use long-range missiles against Russia.
Faced with the coming escalation of tensions, the Russian president, Vladimir Putinthreatened NATO with war if it allowed weapons to be used against Russia. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said restrictions should be lifted as quickly as possible hours after meeting Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv.
In an apparent mockery of other Western politicians, the Ukrainian president tweeted that he was grateful for Johnson's support and added: Ukrainians always remember those who support them.
Former senior adviser to Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings, launched a scathing attack on Western support for Ukraine a few days ago.
In an interview with the I newspaper, Cummings, who led Britain's Vote Leave Brexit campaign and fell out spectacularly with Johnson in 2020, said the West “He should never have found himself in this stupid situation” and said that sanctions against Russia have had a greater impact on European politics than on Moscow (an issue we already discussed last week in The press).
The former adviser harshly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and referred to him as World War II. This is not a repeat of 1940 with Zelensky as a Churchillian loser, he said.
This corrupt Ukrainian mafia state has ripped us all off and we are all going to end up screwed. They're fucking us now, aren't they?
He further argued that the war would only strengthen relations between Russia and China, saying that Western countries had pushed (Russia) to enter into an alliance with the world's largest manufacturing power.
Cummings has long criticized support for Ukraine, a stance that puts him at sharp odds with his former boss Johnson, a strong supporter of Zelensky and the Ukrainian war effort. He told the newspaper that the West had failed to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a valuable signal to dissuade him from invading another country.

WORK METHOD

It is increasingly difficult to deny that the war in Ukraine could have ended just months after the Russian invasion and that the US and British governments worked to prevent that from happening.
On several occasions we have mentioned how Margaret Thatcher derailed the ceasefire obtained, at the request of Peruvian President Fernando Belande Terry in 1982, by ordering the sneak attack on the General Belgrano Cruise (this fact is duly documented in the book Malvinas: Cinco decisive days by José García Enciso, José Enrique and Benito Rotolo.
Analysis of the various events in history demonstrates a constant in Britain's modus operandi of satisfying its interests through blood and fire.
It is for this reason that we believe that sabotaging the peace agreements in 2022 has Britain's hand between Boris Johnson's two fingers.
The latest corroboration was given by David Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelensky's party: Servant of the Peoplewho led the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks with Moscow. Arakhamia told journalist Natalia Moseichuk in a recent television interview that Russia's goal was to pressure us into assuming neutrality, that is, pledging not to not join NATO, and that they were ready to end the war if we accepted this neutrality.
There are several reasons why the negotiations ultimately failed, he explained, including the need to amend Ukraine's constitution (which was amended in February 2019 to enshrine the country's NATO aspirations) and the fact that Johnson traveled to kyiv to brief Ukrainian officials. that the West would not sign any agreement with Moscow and instead insisted: “Let’s fight.”

Arakhmia also said that kyiv's lack of confidence in Russia to uphold its side of the deal meant that the peace deal could only be achieved if there were security guaranteesindirectly suggesting that the negotiations could have been successful if they had received the support and participation of NATO states.
The provision of security guarantees to Ukraine by Western governments has long been part of the debate over how to ensure the sustainability of a post-war peace deal and, in fact, Arakhmia himself revealed in the same interview that Western allies advised us not to accept. ephemeral security guarantees.
The interview corroborates claims first reported in May 2022 by the largely Western-aligned media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, which reported that Boris Johnson told Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky that the West would not support any peace deal, regardless of Ukraine's wishes, and that they preferred to continue fighting Russian President Vladimir Putin because he was less powerful than they thought.

ON THE EDGE OF PEACE

All this gives more weight to the multiple narratives that over the past 21 months have claimed that Ukraine and Russia are on the brink of peace but have been blocked by some NATO states eager for a protracted war which would weaken their country and possibly Russia. destabilize it.
Former US national security official Fiona Hill reported that the two sides had reached a tentative peace deal the same month as Johnson's surprise visit to kyiv, while former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and several Turkish officials, all involved in At various points during the talks, they said NATO officials had stopped or compromised the negotiations.
To complete the picture of the recent visitor, it should be noted that, during his time in Downing Street, Johnson insisted – on every occasion – on the Falklands belonging to the United Kingdom, to the point of threatening to send the army English in the United Kingdom. islands.
Remember that Johnson no longer holds public office.; left parliament after a commission of inquiry found that as minister he deliberately misled lawmakers over the so-called “Party Door” the intention “bullying and abuse” to the deputies responsible for the investigation.
And the Ukrainian war continues to approach 1,000 days. After summer comes mud. For several days, it has been raining more and more frequently in eastern Ukraine and, in the coming days and weeks, meteorologists are predicting the start of the famous mud season. The long, unrestricted war of attrition continues. And meanwhile, Britain still has no intention of recognizing our sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and the South Atlantic.
As an Argentinian, it is very difficult for me not to draw parallels and express my doubts and concerns. He who wants to understand, let him understand