Lieber Thomas Anderson,
vorab auf der Metaebene: Der Vorwurf flüchtiger Lektüre schmerzt und führt nicht weiter. In der Tat lässt der Text aus Foreign Affairs – als gut wissenschaftlicher Text – mehrere Deutungen der Gründe fürs Scheitern jener Verhandlungen zu. Meine Schlüsse aus dem Text sind alles andere als abwegig, ebenso wenig wie diejenigen von Thomas Anderson. Jetzt ein paar Zitate, die meine Lesart stützen (aber – natürlich – nicht beweisen):
(1) Oleksandr Chalyi, der damalige stellvertretende Außenminister der Ukraine: „And we were very close in the middle of April, in the end of April to finalize our war with some peaceful settlement“. Für diejenigen, die den Kontext haben wollen, biete ich (wie bei den anderen Zitatschnipseln im PS mehr Butter bei die Fische).
(2) Der damalige israelische Premier Naftali Bennett: „I’m sure we had a good chance of success“.
(3) David Arakhamia, der ukrainische Chefunterhändler: „[Russia had hoped] until the last moment that they [could] squeeze us to sign such an agreement, that we [would] adopt neutrality. This was the biggest thing for them. They were ready to finish the war if we, like Finland [during the Cold War], adopted neutrality and undertook not to join NATO“.
Der relative Pazifismus empfiehlt, systematisch und hartnäckiger Ausschau zu halten nach Indizien für friedliche Lösungen. Wer bei dieser Suche zu früh aufgibt, wird sie schwerlich finden.
Beste Grüße aus der Humboldt-Uni
von Olaf L. Müller
PS: ad (1): Volles Zitat: „In my opinion, what Putin did is very well described by Fouché’s famous expression: ‚This is more than a crime, it’s a mistake‘. Putin became a victim of his own propaganda and his intelligence services. And to my mind, very quickly after invasion in 24 of february last year [i.e., the 24. february 2022] he very quickly understood his historical mistake. And I was in that moment in the group of Ukranian negotiators. We negiotiated with Russian delegation practically two months in march and april the possible peaceful settlement agreement between Ukraine and Russia. And we, as you remember, concluded so called ‚Istanbul Communiqué‘. And we were very close in the middle of april, in the end of april to finalize our war with some peaceful settlement. For some reasons it was [gestures, as if to say: „let us say:“] postponed. But to my mind Putin – this is my personal view – Putin in one week after started his agression in 24 february last year very quickly understood he did mistake and tried to do everything possible to conclude agreement with Ukraine. And Istanbul Communiqué, it was his personal decision to accepted the text of this Communique which totally far away from the initial proposal of Russia, ultimatum proposal of Russia, which they put before the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk. So we managed to find a very real compromise. So Putin really wanted to reach some peaceful settlement with Ukraine. It’s very important to remember“.
ad (2): Bennett bezog sich auf die Zeit vor dem Bekanntwerden der Massaker in Butscha (die er als Endpunkt der Chancen auf einen Friedensschluss wertete), ging dafür aber mit den NATO-Mächten hart ins Gericht: „Anything I did was coordinated down to the last detail with the US, Germany and France“ – „So they blocked [stopped] it?“ – „Basically, yes. They broke off the negotiations and then it seeemed to me that they were wrong […] I’m sure we had a good chance of success. If they hadn’t stopped trying“. Weil diese Aussagen rasch aufgebauscht worden waren, fügte Bennett zwei Tage später hinzu: „1. It’s unsure there was any deal to be made. At the time I gave it roughly a 50% chance. Americans felt chances were way lower. Hard to tell who was right. 2. It’s not sure such a deal was desirable. At the time I thought so, but only time will tell“.
ad (3): siehe (falls die Moderatoren es erlauben) eine spätere Antwort; notfalls reiche ich es per email nach (muelleol@staff.hu-berlin.de)