Debunking Putin’s narrative

I generally don’t like giving airtime to Russian disinformation by sharing it, but in order to combat false narratives, one must understand them. And Russian disinformation has been raised to a whole new level with President Trump and others in his circle repeating Putin’s talking points.

Another person who has spread Putin’s narrative is Jeffrey Sachs, who recently spoke at the EU parliament on the subject of Russia’s war. Economists for Ukraine wrote an open letter to Jeffrey Sachs about two years ago pointing out problematic patterns in his narrative, so I will not re-debunk all the inaccuracies in his speech (e.g., pointing out that NATO is a defensive alliance that has never attacked anyone and that Ukraine was nowhere near joining NATO in 2022). However, I do want to underscore some key facts that Sachs neglected to mention in his speech.

1. By invading Ukraine, Russia has violated several specific international agreements it signed with Ukraine, in which it promised not only to respect but to protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
2. Russia has shown itself to be an unreliable partner more generally, lying, interfering in elections, and unilaterally violating treaties when it suits its interests. For all intents and purposes, agreements with Russia backed by only Russia’s word are worthless.
3. To say that Russia is not a democracy would be a huge understatement. There’s no real freedom of speech, rampant corruption, and in general widespread repression of the Russian population.
4. What Russia is really waging war on is successful democracies, so it’s hard to see why Putin would stop with Ukraine. Putin is unlikely to demobilize if there’s a ceasefire-he’s too afraid of what the veterans might do back home. So Russia will stay on the war path for the foreseeable future.

In addition to leaving out much of the reality about Russia today, Sachs inexplicably said, “China is not an enemy, China is just a success story.” Yet in terms of oppression, China is one of the few places that surpasses Russia. China is also clearly on a path to take over Taiwan by force and in general strives to spread its influence worldwide. And while all countries’ investments abroad have some element of self-interest, we should all be wary of the motives of countries run by unelected rulers who oppress their populations.

Those who give credibility to Russia’s narrative are therefore not just anti-Ukraine. They’re implicitly anti-democracy. And democracies have no reason to listen to those who defend regimes that deny their own people basic rights.

Originally published at https://ukraineinsights.substack.com.