Quotes
I'm not a fan of the idea that we can or should learn from history because it repeats itself,
historian Martina Winkler told DW It's no coincidence that many have referred to the Munich Security Conference as 'Munich 2.0' or the 'new Yalta,'
Ukrainian politicians traveled to Brest-Litovsk and said 'nobody is going to talk about our territory, about us, if we aren't there to talk for ourselves,'
Czechoslovakia wasn't just robbed of border territory. The country, one of the last democracies in Europe between the wars, was served up to war-mongering Hitler on a silver platter in hopes that it would prevent a war,
Now, however, allies from Eastern and Central Europe — which include the Baltics, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania — are more needed than ever. That must be clearly signaled,
It's difficult not to think of the 1938 Munich Agreement when observing the current situation."
Nevertheless, Winkler, a professor of East European history at Kiel University in Germany, said But what I see now, ... East and Central European nations have often been the plunder of treaties drawn up by major powers… but the US, as far as I can see, is entirely oblivious to this fateful tradition."
as Hausmann, who is specialized on Russia, the Soviet Union and Ukraine, told DW I'm not a big fan of sweeping historic analogies,
says Guido Hausmann, a professor of East and Southeast European history at the University of Regensburg, Germany Ukraine, Europe in a broad sense — and this includes the European Union, Turkey and the UK — should be involved in conversations and the development of the necessary security guarantees with America regarding the fate of our part of the world."
Speaking with reporters from the news agency Agence France Press (AFP) in Ankara, Turkey, Zelenskyy said We didn't just listen, we really heard each other,
said Foreign Minister Lavrov afterwards Of course it's humiliating for Ukraine to be ignored, at least for the moment,
The thaw is good. Tensions with Europe and Ukraine are bad. We need to negotiate with everyone,
said a former Kremlin official Our community is also divided. Some say: ‘Don’t believe it, nothing will come of this. It’s all a circus — Trump doesn’t make the real decisions, the deep state does’,
said a current Russian diplomat Trump is a talented performer and a master strategist. He’s luring us into a long-planned script designed to daze, then weaken and subdue Russia. The intrigues of the U.S., NATO and the EU are part of a coordinated policy. We mustn’t trust them — we must continue pursuing our own interests,
warned another Russian diplomat In my circle, people have mostly swallowed this [believed in real reconciliation]. Everyone is tired of war. They think Putin has won. Trump benefits too — he’s a businessman, he makes deals. Europe hasn’t adapted. Blah blah blah,
said a senior executive at a major state-linked corporation Some of my acquaintances are already quietly dusting off their Visas and Mastercards, hoping that sanctions will be lifted and new opportunities will arise,
said a former high-ranking Russian official in the banking sector [Rapprochement with the U.S.] is an illusion! The only thing worse than an Anglo-Saxon enemy is an Anglo-Saxon friend,
said a former senior government official now working at a state corporation The president’s surrender is pathetic and weak.”
The Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal made a good start this week, when he said You should have never started it.”
To cap it all, he endorsed the Orwellian, black-is-white inversion of truth advanced by the Kremlin when he said When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength."
