Boomer’s Sunday

I’ve been arguing against Russian trolls since 2022, shortly after the Russians launched their full-scale invasion. The themes in their arguments are consistent with the themes that Putin and his allies have advanced, which are consistent with what Putin argued in the interview. 

I would take those 185 million views with a grain of salt, not all of that audience are Americans “looking for good journalism.” The Russians will inflate viewership and engagement in a way that favors pro-Russian arguments. I’ve seen Russian nationals do this on social media. 

That negotiated settlement is a myth. The idea that they had an agreement in place, ready to be signed, just to be derailed by the west, ignores the fact that Ukraine tried, even after the invasion began, to get a negotiated agreement and an end to the conflict. The Russians refused. They had since laid down their conditions for getting a settlement… Ukraine’s capitulation to Moscow’s demands. 

To answer your questions, no, we are not the bad guys. The Russians are. As for things not being clear in Putin’s explanations, again, I’ve followed this war since shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. What Putin said in that interview is consistent with what he has argued, with what his proxies have argued, with what Russian troll farms have argued, etc. Putin is clear with his explanations. 

The interview, the transcripts that you linked to, don’t change the arguments advanced by Putin, his allies, the Russian troll farms, etc. They’re like NPCs when it comes to repeating these themes. Tucker properly asked what the relevance was regarding what happened since the full-scale invasion. Using Putin’s logic, the United States is “properly” still a part of the British Empire, as we got our beginnings as a fringe of English civilization. Based on Putin’s logic, the Mexicans would have every right to “reincorporate the US southwest into Mexico”. 

Treaties; however, changed those previous states into the current state we exist in. Similarly, the former Soviet Republics recognized each other, including their boundaries, after the disintegration of the USSR. This is key, the agreements signed by the former Soviet Republics, and what is internationally recognized. The history that happened before that doesn’t matter at this point.

I got a good laugh when Putin suggested that he pulled troops from Kyiv and northern Ukraine to facilitate negotiations with Ukraine. Putin told Carlson that his Western counterparts pointed out that Ukrainian side was at the negotiating table with a gun pointed to their heads. In response, Putin claimed that he pulled troops from the Kyiv area. That’s nonsense. They got their rear ends handed to them in their attempt to take Kyiv, and it did not help them that they had their troops spread thin across a long front. This forced them to change their strategic objectives and to focus on the east and the south. So, they had a “goodwill gesture” move to pull the troops out of those areas. The Ukrainians and Russians weren’t at a point to where they could sign an agreement ending the conflict.