Zelensky and Putin : Can the world make a narrow escape?
New Delhi
It takes two to tango.
The proverb is seemingly a failed dictum today. The ongoing conflict is at best due to the whim of one.
For Vladimir Putin, who has triggered a major military conflict in Europe with the
potential to kick off a world war, there have been some surreal ideas that he has an appointment
with history, with fate.
In 2022, Putin is the architect of the globe's most infamous catastrophe.
He has single handedly created the worst crisis for Europe and the world in recent times.
But how does the man work ?
Some say, he set aside the everyday calculus of political risks and benefits. Others say he has always thrived
with a mindset of 'diminished sense of danger'.
This means what is 'dangerous' to common people - you and me - and even other public and military
leaders -- may not appear dangerous to Putin, a former KGB spy.
It is also argued that Putin's authoritarian inclination actually came from his former idol and boss,
Anatoly Sobchak.
Once seen as a possible president of Russia, Sobchak has been a central figure in Russia's revolution of the 1990s.
Sobchak and Putin worked together when both were mayor and deputy mayor of St Petersburg.
Well, the conventional wisdom suggests if one has to understand the war in Ukraine in 2022, it is pertinent for
the world today to understand and analyse the man called Putin.
One simple reference can be Putin's grandpa was a cook with illustrious Stalin.
Experts and scholars who have devoted time and energy into Russian affairs and working on the life
and careers of Putin, Boris Yelstin and Sobchak say Putin had the 'diminished sense of danger' even in his childhood.
Nothing about this war was inevitable, says 'The Economist', adding cleverly -"It is a conflict entirely of his own
making". Few can dispute this.
It's like the 'making' of his career. When boys of his age wanted in the Soviet Union to be a fighter pilot or
something glamorous, he wanted to be a spy.
Posted to East Germany as a KGB sleuth, he had mastered smoke and mirrors -- that is,intended to make one believe that something is being done or is true, when it is not:
He grew up virtually believing that - "One spy could decide the fate of thousands of people".
And, thus comes the conviction he is not only a 'spy'; he is Moscow --- the centrifugal point of power.
And Moscow cannot be silent.
Let's face the truth. Putin attacked Ukraine in 2022. In the past, he annexed Crimea in 2014 and Putin also
had invaded Georgia in 2008.
That's the man for you. The metamorphosis of the man is not sudden.
In contrast, presumably, Volodymyr Zelensky represents the pulse of his country, they all want to
fight the Russian aggression.
Vladimir Putin on the other hand wants to revive Russian imperialism.
A survey says about 34 percent of Ukrainians are ready to pick up arms against Vladimir Putin's forces.
There are a few historical tidbits. During the Soviet era, Russia was the most powerful province of the USSR
and Ukraine was the second most powerful. Once upon a time - of course it is said Ukraine was considered a chief
competitor to the United States and it was even perhaps more powerful than Russia.
The two men are now changing the course of history. One trying to invade, and the other resisting the same.
Putin had presumed that Ukrainians and their non-text book variety president would crumble
under intense pressure.
The US officials have been impressed with the fighting prowess of the Ukrainians, says 'New York Times'.
Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb 26, 2022 morning posted a video of himself on Twitter.
Russians had started claiming that he had fled the war-ravaged country.
But Ukraine’s president emerged from his office unshaven, looked red-eyed and declared:
“Good morning to all Ukrainians! There are a lot of fakes out there…[but] I am here.”
One video among billions of social media postings and a mere half a sentence '....I am here' perhaps
stalled the course of human history at least for the time being.
Snap elections were held not long ago in his country, and Zelensky himself characterized the contest as
“maybe more important than the presidential election.”
His 'Servant of the People' party won an absolute majority, capturing 254 of 450 seats (26 seats, representing
Crimea—a Ukrainian autonomous republic that was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014—and the war zone in the east, were not contested).
"The result marked the first time in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history that a single party could command absolute
control over the legislative agenda," says a report in www.britannica.com.
Did it mark a new beginning in the history of Europe, Russia and the world ?
Yes, of course, he has made life tense and competitive if not miserable for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now the 'worst fear' from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is if Putin falters and fails on ground in the face of stiff fight
by Ukraine people and forces, he could actually take the road to 'unrestricted war' and use of nuke powers.
But what matters most for Ukrainian president Zelensky is that the capital Kyiv has not fallen. There is strong
resistance in eastern Ukraine and Zelensky is 'happy' to play the role of a national leader.
That was not the role he had chosen, but the one that was thrust upon him. Well, he
has carried it off with dignity and strength, says the 'Economist'.
Many of Ukraine’s veterans fought in battles with Russia in the recent past, so there is a subset
of the population that is trained and knows how to fight Russians, notes 'New York Times'.
Nevertheless the world has to find a way to escape the bigger conflict.
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Russia declares ceasefire in Ukraine for evacuation of civilians
New Delhi
A day after India persisted pressure among other countries, Russia has announced a ceasefire in Ukraine to facilitate easier and faster evacuation of stranded civilians.
The Russian forces will observe a ceasefire in Ukraine starting from Saturday to facilitate the evacuation of civilians via humanitarian corridors amid the ongoing war, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow said.
As was agreed by the Ukrainian side, the humanitarian corridors will allow the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha in south Ukraine.
However, there is no disclosure on how long the ceasefire will last.
During their second round of peace talks on Thursday, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed on the establishment of 'humanitarian corridors' for the exit of civilians and on a temporary cessation of hostilities along the evacuation routes.
India on Friday pressed hard for a ceasefire from both Russian and Ukrainian sides.
"The evacuation would look difficult without a ceasefire," said India's Ministry of External Affairs.
"We urge the parties concerned- Ukraine and Russia, to have a local ceasefire at least, so that we can
evacuate our people and students," MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters on Friday evening
during a special briefing.
“Ideally we would need to have (a) local ceasefire or something of that kind,” Bagchi said.
He said otherwise it would be difficult to move people out without a truce because of the shelling and fighting.
An estimated over 20,000 Indian students and citizens in recent weeks have left Ukraine, however there could3000 more in eastern part of Ukraine where the conflict was intense.
“We don’t want the students to cross through a place where they are at risk. Anything can happen in a
war zone, so we always want a safe route for our students," the MEA spokesman said.
India, he said, has thus told both sides publicly that there should be a local ceasefire so students and other Indian citizens can get evacuated.
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Over 20,000 Indians leave Ukraine, New Delhi calls for ceasefire to evacuate citizens
"The evacuation would look difficult without a ceasefire," said India's Ministry of External Affairs and so called for a ceasefire between fighting troops of Russia and Ukraine to help evacuate stranded Indians.
"We urge the parties concerned- Ukraine and Russia, to have a local ceasefire at least, so that we can evacuate our people and students," MEA spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters on Friday evening during a special briefing.
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| A Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Lugansk region : Guardian |
“Ideally we would need to have (a) local ceasefire or something of that kind,” Bagchi said.
He said otherwise it would be difficult to move people out without a truce because of the shelling and fighting.
“We don’t want the students to cross through a place where they are at risk. Anything can happen in a
war zone, so we always want a safe route for our students," he said.
India, he said, has thus told both sides publicly that there should be a local ceasefire so we can get
students out.
Officials say they managed to get dozens of students out of Pisochyn in five buses on Thursday and
Friday and they were taken to Lviv and the Moldovan border.
India wants to pull out nearly 3,000 of its citizens and students, especially from the eastern Ukrainian cities of
Kharkiv and Sumy, where movement is impossible because of shelling and intense fighting.
The MEA spokesperson said, over 20,000 Indians have left the Ukraine border since advisories
were issued.
"There are more people, but it's reassuring to see that this many people have left Ukraine".
Meanwhile, government sources said so far 48 flights under Operation Ganga have landed in India
out of which 18 flights landed between Thursday and Friday (24 hours).
The total number of Indians who returned onboard these 18 flights is around 4000.
In terms of departure points, there'll be five flights each from Budapest, four from Suceava în România,
three from Rzeszow in Poland and one each from Warsaw, Bratislava, Bucharest and Kosice in Slovakia.
As many as 16 flights scheduled between Friday evening and Saturday including Indian Air Force's
C-17 aircraft.
Though Russian media reports suggested Russian authorities had arranged 130 buses to take Indians from Kharkiv and Sumy to the Russian town of Belgorod, MEA spokesman Bagchi said these vehicles were 50 to 60 km away from where the students are sheltering.
“We don’t see a safe and secure way to reach (the buses). I would appeal and urge the parties concerned to have a local ceasefire so that we can go to those buses...,” he said.
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Pakistan remains on ‘grey list’ even as UAE joins the club
New Delhi
Pakistan has continued to be on the FATF's grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.
Having missed two targets out of 34 action points, the the Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has retained Pakistan on its terrorism financing “grey list”.
Islamabad has been asked yet again to address the remaining deficiencies in its financial system as soon as possible.
At the concluding session of its hybrid plenary meeting on Friday, the Paris-based FATF added the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its increased monitoring list, also known as the grey list,
of countries with inadequate controls over terrorism financing.
The watchdog also decided to appoint T. Raja Kumar of Singapore as its next president for a fixed two-year term.
The greylisting has adversely impacted Pakistan's imports, exports, remittances, and limited access to
international lending.
Pakistan was placed on the list in 2018, which made foreign firms more cautious about investing in the country.
The Friday plenary noted that Pakistan had completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan of the FATF and of the seven action items of the 2021 action plan of the watchdog’s Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) ahead of the deadlines.
It was noted that since June 2018 — when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF
In July 2021, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar reportedly told a group of BJP lawmakers that it
was “due to India” that Pakistan is now under the lens of the terror-funding watchdog FATF.
On June 25, 2021, Pakistan was retained by the FATF on the list of countries under “increased monitoring”.
Since 2018, New Delhi has pointed out that despite making commitments in international fora, Pakistan establishment
has given "freedom and impunity with which the designated terrorists like Hafiz Saed and entities
like Jamaat-Ud-Dawaa, Lashkar-e-Tayabba, Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to operate in Pakistan.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to promote effective implementation of legal,
regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats.
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