By Marcin Żmudzki
We must demand Russia’s UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL from Ukraine.
If someone stabbed you, would you demand only partial withdrawal of the knife from your body? No.
If someone raped you, would you negotiate to what extent the rapist should pull his penis out from you? Obviously you wouldn’t.
Putin’s Russia must unconditionally, immediately and completely pull its land troops out of Ukraine, including from the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbas region.
The Russian military has to stop bombing Ukraine from the sea and the air, including from areas beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Russia must rescind its official recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk areas as independent “people’s republics” and order its mercenaries in those two eastern provinces of #Ukraine to cease all their operations and evacuate back to #Russia.
UNCONDITIONAL WITHDRAWAL!!!
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In response to a couple comments I received on Facebook, I would like to clarify the following points:
- The above demands must be articulated unequivocally in anticipation of or response to various musings by commentators and “experts,” on television and in various conferences, about what Ukraine and the world should demand or could expect from Russia once peace negotiations start in earnest. It is necessary to state our aims clearly so as to preempt any suggestions that Ukraine should make some concessions in peace negotiations with Russia.
- Our demand for unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine is not meant to replace or weaken any public and private appeals to provide adequate weapons to Ukraine. It goes without saying that, right now, putting heavy weaponry and ammunition in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers is the most important “argument” that Russia will understand. Armaments provided to Ukraine will not go to waste because the Ukrainians have already shown that they can fight so valiantly — for their freedom and ours.