Kasparov

10.7.2024

I recently attended the 2024 Warsaw Security Forum and had the opportunity to meet in person with many of the brave activists working to secure victory for Ukraine. I was taken aback, however, to see just how much the mood had changed from the previous year. The prevailing spirit in Warsaw in regard to the war has always been one of positivity; now, it is one of disarray. Far from my position being the consensus view among the leaders gathered there, to discuss the collective security of Europe, I was in a small but vocal minority advocating a more “radical” position. I have not, and will not, backed down from my view that the only way forward is to pursue a complete and total Russian defeat in Ukraine. Unfortunately, the mainstream consensus (led by American officials) seems to have become a troubling kind of doublespeak—supporting Ukraine on the one hand, while paving the way for negotiations with Putin on the other.

Receiving a white-blue-white flag from the Free Russia Legion

This has been the case for quite some time, if you read between the lines. (I wrote about this history of betrayal back in 2023 for the WSJ.) The West promises tranche after tranche of aid for Ukraine, but, after the initial headlines, it takes months to actually deliver the arms. And then, Ukraine must operate under tight restrictions as to how it can use the weapons, how far it can fire into Russian territory, against which targets. It has long been clear that the international community values maintaining a semblance of normalcy—even though Putin’s aggression has long since completely shattered this normalcy—upholding the pretense of the possibility of negotiation. We will keep supporting Ukraine, we will continue barely upholding the mantle of democracy, but, we’re not going to do all it takes—because that risks starting an all-out war. I will repeat: we are already in an all-out war.

In Warsaw, I heard these sentiments expressed bluntly for the first time. The language was direct around capitulating to Putin, ceding territories taken over by Russian troops, entering into negotiations based on the current frontlines of the conflict. Even still, there was an overlay of democracy-friendly rhetoric: “Ukraine must win.” The sneaky maneuver was redefining what is meant by victory, now the dangerously murky: “lasting peace.” What, are we now going to trust Putin? Give him over the territories he has forcibly taken in the Donbas and stand by politely for his next act of illegal annexation?

Putin can read the room and the weak (read, nonexistent) resistance he faces from the international community. The new textbooks issued for grade schoolers in Russia already include the captured Ukrainian territories on the Russian map. He is already inculcating the next generation of Russians into his lies—that Russia is a special empire, positioned at odds with the West as a result of its unique cultural and ideological identity, that it is engaged in an unceasing existential battle with the U.S. for its survival. The only way these Russians will wake up is through a crushing defeat for Putin’s forces in Ukraine. As I said in Warsaw, this means nothing short of the Ukrainian flag flying above Sevastopol. These Russians need to be shocked into realizing Putin’s lies and distortions. It is the only way for us to save the future of Ukraine, global democracy, and the millions of Russia who have been coopted by Putin’s regime.

And so, I was emboldened in my stance in Warsaw not by political leaders, who have grown weary of the war and its political costs, but by the brave Ukrainian activists who refuse to give up on their country. I continue to stand with them and their brave mission. I refuse to “compromise” with a dictatorship.

Watch my interview with TVP World at the Forum for more.

With the Ukrainian delegation and one of the legendary defenders of Snake Island.