larry johnson speaks about the ukie war and more;

Let me remind you what Vladimir Putin said at the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO) in February 2022:

“The purpose of this operation is to protect people who for eight years now have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime,” he said, according to an English translation from the Russian Mission in Geneva. “To this end, we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Official Washington and most military analysts continue to ignore Putin’s words and insist that Russia’s goal was to capture all of Ukraine. As my old friend, Ray McGovern, repeatedly has emphasized over the past three years: pay attention to what Putin says.

Demilitarization entails two key objectives. First, ensure the safety of the Russian-speaking populations in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson from attacks from Ukraine. Russia’s current position is much tougher than what it was prepared to accept in March 2022, when Russia and Ukraine reached a tentative agreement to end the SMO:

1. Ukraine would adopt a neutral status, abandoning plans to join NATO.
2. Ukraine would have limits placed on its military.
3. Western countries would be obliged to help Ukraine in case of future aggression against it.
4. Ukraine proposed security guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5, with countries like China, Russia, UK, France, and Belarus potentially intervening militarily if Ukraine were attacked again.
5. The status of Crimea would be decided over a 10-15 year consultation period, with Ukraine promising not to attempt to retake the peninsula by force.
6. Discussions would be held on the status of Russian-occupied territories, with the possibility of a meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Putin to finalize these issues.
7. Russia agreed to “drastically reduce” military activity near Kyiv to facilitate further negotiations..........more.........