Assistants and the traitors. The picture of support for Ukraine in the world leaders’ speeches

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In the third publication from the series of Solomiya Kryvenko, the candidate of political sciences analyzes who is the helper and the traitor of Ukraine in the battle against evil from the speeches of the first persons of Ukraine, Russia and world leaders. It shows how narratives about our country are created, how a story is told about each of us, and how we are portrayed in the eyes of the whole world.
Photo: John Macdougall

Photo: John Macdougall

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History teaches us that those who try to sit on two chairs, sooner or later end up on the floor.

Speech of the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda during the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 28.07.2022

No matter how strong the main character is, he himself cannot stand against evil. Therefore, on his way, the protagonist meets assistants who help him not to lose heart in the most difficult moment, inspire him to continue the confrontation with the antagonist and his accomplices. In fairy tales, assistants help the hero to move, escape from persecution, complete difficult tasks or free himself from a dungeon:

The role of assistants in the narrative of the Ukrainian confrontation is played by the states (more precisely, the leaders and citizens of the states), who believe in the main character and support his aspirations. They, like the Ukrainian people, have seen the disgusting nature of the villain, and do not hesitate to call him a liar, a dictator, or a fool:

  • J. Biden: Putin has the gall to say he’s «de-Nazifying» Ukraine. It’s a lie. It’s just cynical. He knows that. (J. Biden’s speech in Warsaw, March 26, 2022);
  • B. Johnson: In the south and the east of your wonderful country, Putin continues with his grotesque and illegal campaign to take and hold Ukrainian soil. And as you turned the Russian army back from the gates of Kyiv, you not only accomplished the greatest feat of arms of the 21st century, you achieved something deeper and perhaps equally significant. You exposed Putin’s historic folly, the gigantic error that only an autocrat can make. Because when a leader rules by fear, rigs elections, jails critics, gags the media, and listens just to sycophants, when there is no limit on his power = that is when he makes catastrophic mistakes. (Boris Johnson’s address to the Verkhovna Rada, 05/03/2022);
  • A. Duda: I know what terrible actions the barbarian invaders committed in Bucha and other cities, for this they should appear before international courts... Ukraine must be rebuilt first of all at the expense of the aggressor. This is required by historical justice. It was Russia that destroyed Ukraine and Russia must pay for it... It is obvious who is the aggressor, who was attacked and whose land is being destroyed (A. Duda. Address to the Verkhovna Rada, May 22, 2022).

Read also: Whose side will the world take? Analysis of Putin’s and Zelenskyi’s speeches during the big war

Assistance in the Ukrainian story are also those who perform the function of a donor: they provide weapons to Ukrainian troops, asylum to migrants, and patronage to politicians in international institutions:

  • J. Biden: And thanks to the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people – the equipment we’ve sent and our colleagues have sent have been used to devastating effect [for Russia] to defend Ukrainian land and airspace. (J. Biden’s speech in Warsaw, 03/26/2022 year);
  • Egils Levits: We in Latvia have already spent a third of our annual military budget to help Ukraine build up its military power. It is important that all NATO member countries help Ukraine with effective weapons. We are four NATO representative states here – and we are not only doing everything possible from our countries, but also calling on other states to help Ukraine (Briefing of the five presidents in Kyiv (Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), 04/13/2022).
  • H. Nauseda: Your struggle is also our struggle, of Lithuanians... We have suffered too much and suffered too much injustice to be indifferent to each other’s suffering. Therefore, today, Lithuania supports Ukraine with all its capabilities, provides and will provide military, humanitarian and financial aid – until the victory (Speech of the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda during the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 28/07/2022).

The assistants, like the main character, understand the motives of the struggle and the heroism of the latter:

  • B. Johnson: Your children and grandchildren will say that Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free. They will say that Ukrainians proved by their tenacity and sacrifice that tanks and guns cannot suppress a nation fighting for its independence. (Boris Johnson’s address to the Verkhovna Rada, 05/03/2022);
  • U. von der Leyen: If freedom has a name, it is called Ukraine. And today, the Ukrainian flag is the flag of freedom. (Speech at the European Parliament, 23.03. 2022).

Unlike the assistants, the traitors oppose the main character (the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyi) in his quest for independence and freedom with all their might, knowingly or unknowingly helping the antagonist – Russia.

On his Twitter, Serhii Kyslytsia, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine in the UN, listed the countries that opposed V. Zelenskyi addressing the 77th UN General Assembly: «Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea. What a company!» (post).

Read also: Zelenskyi versus evil: the antagonist in the Ukrainian narrative of war

According to Putin, there are significantly more countries that seek to cooperate with Russia:

  • Russia – despite the fact that our Western so-called friends literally dream about it – will never follow the path of self-isolation and autarky. Moreover, we are expanding and will continue to expand interaction with everyone who is interested in this, who wants to work with us. There are many, I won’t list them. This is the vast majority of people on earth. Now, I will not list all these countries, everyone knows it (Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 17, 2022).

According to Putin, these countries are resisting pressure from Europe and the United States:

  • I won’t say anything new if I remind you that everyone who works and wants to continue working with Russia is subjected to open pressure from the United States and Europe, sometimes even reaching direct threats. However, such blackmail means little when it comes to countries headed by real leaders who clearly understand where the foreign interests are, and where are national, their own interests, and the interests of their peoples (Putin’s speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, June 17, 2022).

Belarus occupies a special place in the Ukrainian history of a full-scale invasion – it is not the main villain, but its main accomplice. On the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation on May 8, 2022, V. Zelenskyi said that Belarus is «those who, having survived all these [Nazi] crimes, having lost millions of people who fought for victory and gained it, have desecrated the memory of them and their feat today. The one who allowed the shelling of the cities of Ukraine from his land. The cities that, along with our ancestors, were liberated by his ancestors. The one who spat in the face of his «Immortal Regiment», placing torturers from Bucha next to it». (Address of the President of Ukraine on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, May 8, 2022).

Aleksandr Lukashenka shrugs his shoulders:

  • And in general, those who reproach us, didn’t you know that we have the closest alliance with the Russian Federation? With the state with which we are building a single, powerful, independent state – the Union State... And that they did not know that we have created a single grouping of armed forces in the union of Belarus and Russia for a long time. In fact, a single army. You knew all this, so why are you reproaching us today? We were and will be together with fraternal Russia (Speech at the wreath-laying ceremony in the «Kurgan Slavy» memorial complex on June 3, 2022).

In addition to the outspoken traitor, other countries that are not assigned a clear role in the Ukrainian narrative fall into the «Russian narrative» trap. Thus, French President E. Macron called to «save Putin’s face» and called Ukrainians and Russians «brotherly peoples», and the Vatican organized a procession with the joint participation of a Ukrainian and a Russian woman. The idea of ​​»brotherhood», even if not directly, nevertheless supports the messages of Moscow, as it is consonant with Putin’s «Ukraine was completely created by Russia» and the Belarusian «truth today is on the side of brotherly Russia».

But the assistants of the Ukrainian people do not believe in the motive of «brothers who quarreled»:

Translated by Vitalii Holich

The author’s column is a reflection of the author’s subjective position. The editors of «Tvoe Misto» do not always share the opinions expressed in the columns, and are ready to give those who disagree the opportunity for a reasoned answer.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.

 



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