Vladislav Surkov had supervised the Kremlin’s policy on Ukraine during a period that included the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war in the country’s east. Andrei Lyubimov / Moskva News Agency
RFE: In First Interview Since Departure, Russia's Former 'Gray Cardinal' Questions Existence Of Ukraine
Vladislav Surkov was once "the man" in the Kremlin -- the "gray cardinal" and ideologist who oversaw Ukraine policy during the now six-year war that has killed more than 13,000, displaced more than 1 million, and ruptured ties between Moscow and the West.
Since Ukraine’s president fled the country in February 2014, following months of street protests, Moscow has consistently suggested that the government that assumed power in Kyiv was illegitimate. Ukrainian sovereignty over separatist-controlled areas of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where war erupted in March 2014, was also in question.
Surkov was central to this thinking before his surprise departure from the Kremlin was officially announced on February 18.
In an interview published February 26, his first since leaving, he said the very idea of a Ukrainian state is open for debate.
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WNU Editor: Ukraine is a country where on one side Russian-Ukrainians are the majority in the eastern part of the country and who strongly feel that their culture and language are under threat from the Western part. And on the other side Ukrainian nationalists have the view that Russian-Ukrainians must acknowledge and conform to their view on what Ukraine is, and they should assimilate into Ukrainian society. Vladislav Surkov is acknowledging this divide, and he clearly does not have any hope that this conflict will ever be resolved. Long time readers of this blog know that I have a different point of view. For Ukraine to survive it must adopt a federal system (like Canada's), where minorities will feel welcomed and protected. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy ran on this platform last year, and (not surprising) won the Presidency with an overwhelming mandate to do just that. The fact that he has walked back many of his promises has demoralized/disappointed many (including myself), but we are still hopeful that a solution will be found. In the case of Vladislav Surkov, he is clearly someone who has given up.
More News On Vladislav Surkov's Views On Ukraine
Ex-Kremlin aide says Ukraine will never reclaim rebel east (AP)
Ex-Putin aide Surkov's parting shot: Ukraine will eventually break up or cling on within shrunken borders (RT)
‘I Created the System’: Kremlin’s Ousted ‘Grey Cardinal’ Surkov, in Quotes (Moscow Times)
2 comments:
President Zelenskiy has not walked back. What he has done is say that he can only implement those reforms ONCE he has control of the border. He will not allow a Russian (Moscow) Trojan Horse into the country to destabilize it. Which is Putin's plan.
That Putin is unwilling to allow Ukraine to have control over its own border is pretty strong proof that he never intends to allow Ukraine to be at peace. And that his demands to Ukraine are not in order to help resolve the conflict, but in order for Russia to continue its predatory behaviour. So if there is criticism of it not being implemented, it should be directed to Putin.
I think it's natural for the site editor to have sympathies for Ukraine's Russophones/ethnic Russians in Ukraine since he has family there. But that doesn't explain why he takes Putin's/Moscow's statements at face value. he is sufficiently skeptical whenever it comes to other government/offical statements, but he has a pattern of naive acceptance of Putin's regime even if he is critical at times.
Chris
It is very difficult to have peace while Ukrainian right wing nationalists roam around freely attacking and harrassing journalists, politicians and those who are not deemed to be connected by "blood and soil". The heirs to the OUN/UPA legacy openly promote and engage in ethnic cleansing and have heavily infiltrated the Ukrainian military.
Hilding celebrations for Nazi collaborators, SS volunteers and torchlit marches with posters of Bandera are not strategies for peace. They are quite the opposite. Like other fascist/racist groups and tendencies, Ukrainian nationists worship and glorify violence as THE means to achieve an ethnically "pure" state.This is openly expressed in parties, such as Svoboda and Pravy Sektor as well as militia groups, such as Azov, Aidar, embedded with the Ukrainian military.
Worse for peace prospects is the active encouragement and support for said Ukrainian fascist grouoings -mainly of the Galician variety- from foreign governments (e.g. Canada) and diaspora groups (e.g. UCC). Both of said hold, and share, a pathological hatred for Russia.
The people of the East, particularly the Donbass and Crimea, are not interested in upholding the ethnic-blood-fever dreams of Banderites in Ukraine and abroad. They are also little interested in promoting or being fodder for the geopolitical machinations of "Western" interests in the region.
It is natural for any thinking, sane individual to question the prevalence of 888, Wolfsangel, blood and soil flags and other symbology used by Ukrainian nationalists. It is perfectly rational for any individual, ethnically Russian or no, to question and criticize the glorification of Stepan Bandera, UKrainian SS volunteers and celebrations for said. It is perfectly honest and reasonable for a critically thinking human being to look askance at the Ukrainian diaspora groups and political/military figures in Canada and question their activities in today's Ukraine.
It is also perfectly reasonable to assume the editor of this blog is, based on thousands of past posrs, 100% not aligned with Putin or Putinism.
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