To my Western colleagues and partners
On the possible negotiations with Kremlin regime
Putin is not interested in negotiations. It would be nice if he was a “normal” human being, who is willing to understand the pain of people he is currently torturing with cold and hunger in Mariupol or killing them in every city and even every village in Ukraine. But he is not.
And hence Ukrainians have no choice but to fight. The mistake that some of the Western leaders are making is that they think that by “agreeing”, which means surrendering (as this is the only deal this monster wants) the lives of ordinary Ukrainians will be saved. They are VERY WRONG about that.
Putin regime will kill millions if they win, like it happened in Ukraine in Soviet time in 1932-33, 1946 and again and again and again in gulags, torture camps and jails (just like they are doing it in Russia right now). They will kill more in gulags than they will kill in this war.
So Ukrainians have no choice but to fight, and that is the truth. This is not a choice for us. Ukrainians are fighting because the alternative is a death in gulag or life as a slave. We do not want either. And would rather die.
If you have a chance to watch Winter on Fire by Evgeny Afineevsky (it is currently free on Netflix), I would highly reccomend it – it makes it very clear how this is the case. Please believe me, I am not trying to make you cry or be impressed with Ukrainians. This is just the harsh reality of truth.
Valeriy Chaly,
Chair of the UCMC Board,
Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. (2015-2019)