Report from the field: After Zelensky violated the Minsk Accords that it had signed with Russia, and after Putin invaded to protect the oppressed Russian-speaking minority focused on the Donbass, the punishment that Ukraine was suffering as a result of the invasion, particularly the tank assault on the northern outskirts of Kiev, persuaded Zelensky finally to negotiate an agreement with Putin in Istanbul. As an enticement, Putin withdrew his tanks from northern Ukraine and returned them to their bases in Belarus. Suddenly in comes Boris Johnson (at the urging of Biden) who promptly promised Zelensky unlimited military assistance in the form of modern weapons if Zelensky would only break off negotiations with Russia. And the war resumed. Thank you Boris Johnson!
This is a distant echo of what happened in 1939. Hitler was demanding free access to East Prussia on a rail line that ran through the German-speaking city of Danzig — a modest request from any point of view. But Chamberlain (at the urging of FDR) told the Polish military rulers not to negotiate with Hitler under any circumstance but to refuse all of his requests, no matter how moderate or reasonable. Poland took the bait and refused Hitler. . . and Hitler invaded, conquering Poland in three weeks. What aid did Britain provide? Britain subsequently gave Poland away to military occupation by the Soviet Union, who shot 20,000 Polish officers and social elites and ran Poland as a Communist dictatorship for 50 years. Thank you Neville Chamberlain! Thank you Perfidious and Insidious Albion!
