Ukraine Vs. Russia: What is the meaning of this meaningless conflict?

(Note: The essay is personal opinion. No meaning to lean on any side.)

The night of February 24th in the U.S which was the early morning of February 25th in Ukraine, the invasion of Russia had begun. The siren had wailed in around the capital and people were desperate to leave the country or stay in the bomb shelter. Horrible scenes from the explosion were being streamed everywhere.

My heart is throbbed after I read the news. For the whole night, I could not sleep a bit because I was worried about the potential of the third world war which to me I believe would be worse than WWII. After all, it can be about nuclear war. My thoughts and my prayers are for the people of Ukraine and Russia. Let’s pray together for peace and give it a chance.

Putin and Zelenskyy

Invading other countries is unforgivable and in the end, normally, whoever invades a country will never have a good ending. Karma is always there for them.

Remembering Hitler, one of the worst dictators of all time, had a desire to conquer the world, wanted to prove that he was the best and no one could be over him. He killed millions of Jews, he created fear and horror for everyone in the war, he was the architect of WWII, and many innocent people had died because of Hitler. The ending of that notorious dictator, well, was killing himself; put a period to a desire to conquer the world of Hitler.

Now, in the modern-day, the world is having a new Hitler, or another way to say, a descendant of Hitler. Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. A man with an iron heart, a man who leads Russia into a big nation after the fall of the Soviet Union, a man who has helped pull Russia out of the mud, and a man who has a big brain. Now, he is being nailed as Hitler for invading Ukraine. Funny how people think of him like that when they don’t understand him a bit or live in his shoes. Not until the day he ordered the special operation in Ukraine did people call him a dictator, in the eyes of the Western countries, Putin has been that kind of person. A cruel leader with nothing with an evil heart.

I have to disagree with that even though I know I go against what people are thinking and people are standing with Ukraine right now. Putin is not Hitler. He doesn’t want to conquer the world like Hitler or have an intention to do so.

Many days ago, I watched a docuseries, The Putin Interview, about Putin. It was a series of interviews between Putin and director Oliver Stone. It is an in-depth interview but it helps the viewers to go inside the mind of Putin. When conducting the interview, Putin did not show anything like confusion, disorientation in front of every question. It is like he is trying to tell his own story from his point of view. It is completely different from what other western countries are trying to portray him. Studying law and being an ex-KGB spy combined with a long career in politics, Putin understood the assignment and knew what to do to solve the math that Boris Yeltsin gave him after he resigned. Putin is a Russian and everything he does is for the Russians. Putin must have done a great job when leading his country so people agreed to change the Constitution to let him lead the country more. He has no intentions to betray his own country or sell Russia to the Western countries like a country right next to Russia.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, started as a comedian. A comedian runs the country? Something is not right here. He doesn’t have any experience in politics. Oh, wait, actually he has. But from playing a president in a movie. Until right now, I don’t understand why people in Ukraine could vote for him as their leader. President Zelenskyy decided not to leave the country to stay with people and soldiers, which is a very proud thing. But what did he do to help the situation in his country? No idea. Perhaps, he is waiting for the help of other nations.

Why is there a conflict?

The reason for the invasion of Russia in Ukraine is starting from the worry of Russia when Ukraine wanted to join NATO that NATO will threaten Russia. Now, after the Soviet Union was over, many countries which were under the control of the Soviet Union began to join the freedom world. Many of those countries had joined NATO and NATO wanted to expand to the East. Ukraine wanted to join but Russia did not allow Ukraine to do so because Russia is afraid that if Ukraine joins, Russia would be pushed to the wall and be isolated. Besides, Ukraine wants to forget the past and bury the past six feet under.

Here’s why. If you have watched the speech from president Putin talking about the creation of Ukraine and how Ukraine is Ukraine right now, you will see why Putin was so angry. Russia created Ukraine, Russia gave Ukraine independence (well, of course, once a country has its independence, they will have the right to do whatever they want that no other countries have a right to interfere). But Ukraine did not want to remember those times while under the control of the Soviet Union. They want to reject what is called history, they want to play with the Western countries, they want to “divorce” from Russia after how many times Russia has helped them in the past. Putin wants to teach Ukraine a lesson. But in my opinion, Putin has gone too far when invading Ukraine and creating this war. What they could have done was sit and talk about Ukraine joining NATO which right now they have not joined yet. Or Russia just ignored Ukraine because after all, Russia is a strong independent nation. They have good resources, a strong military, and a nuclear weapon.

The Kissinger’s Prediction

Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, has said in an article he wrote, “Henry Kissinger: To settle the Ukraine crisis, start at the end” published in The Washington Post in 2014. “Far too often the Ukrainian issue is posed as a showdown: whether Ukraine joins the East or the West. But if Ukraine is to survive and thrive, it must not be either side’s outpost against the other — it should function as a bridge between them”. Kissinger had a lot of experiences as a diplomat with other countries and each time he dealt with them, it would be a lesson. What Kissinger said can be understood like this. Ukraine does not know what the best for them, what side they should stand on, how to develop its nation, what people want. Until right now, they don’t even have their viewpoint. They think “Oh Western countries are so modern, so beautiful, so civilized, so developing. We should play with them. We should abandon Russia forever.” A country that always depends on other countries for help will never be good, let alone about development. Ukraine is doing the same. Waiting for the help of other countries. Meanwhile, Russia tries to help Ukraine and does everything for the sake of that nation. But Ukraine does not care. They always say like this a stranger nearby is better than a far-away relative. Russia is not a stranger. It is a brother. Reaching arms far far away and what they got back? Nothing. See? On the night of the attack, NATO only said but never did anything. They went to the United Nation and criticized Russia, and acting? Well, no.

The tension between Russia and other Western countries has been worse for many years. In the middle, as Kissinger said, Ukraine should be a bridge connecting Russia with the rest of the world so that the world can understand Russia more and after all these years they would have been friends. But unfortunately, it will never happen. Ukraine should have been focused on its nation first. Make the nation stronger, make the nation better, make the nation great again. Yes, dream the smallest dreams first then bigger dreams later. At this time, Ukraine is like a good piece of cake that every Western country and Russia want to own and control. It has turned into a war zone.

“Why did they do everything so quickly like that?”

The invasion of Russia has raised many outrages. People around the world are standing up with Ukraine right now. That is a great thing to do. My heart is going to every Ukrainian, not the government because I believe they have done nothing to help people over there. Let’s hope this is going to end soon. But there is one thing that makes me feel a little bit sad and annoyed. As you can see, right after the invasion of Russia in Ukraine, the whole world came together to criticize Russia and plan to have sanctions on that country. Everything they did was so quick without any consideration. The United Nations also had an important meeting with every country. I asked myself a question. Why did they do everything so quickly like that? Is that because they were scared? Remember back many years ago, the U.S brought the troops to Iraq and invaded that country under the administration of George W. Bush, why did no one say anything at all? That meaningless war had caused many innocent lives including Iraqi and American. Such a tragedy. My heart is going to the family of every fallen soldier and may their souls Rest In Peace.

Recently, when Israel invaded Belarus, the United Nation did not put any sanctions on Israel. It began to create an unfair treatment with other countries where they used to be in the same situation. It is always a wrong thing when invading other countries because they have violated the independence that they have. But it doesn’t mean other countries just stand there and fold hands without doing anything.

Only if the United Nations or NATO have done something to prevent this war before it’s too late. Like I said above, only civilians are the forces suffering the pains of war.

Sanction on Russia: Good or bad?

Russia is such a big country with many good sources. Now putting sanctions on Russia cannot help anything, to be honest. It only creates the worst-case scenario that gas will disappear and the world will suffer. Bad for Russia. Yes, because its economy will go down. But good with the world. No, because they still depend on the sources of Russia, especially gas which helps the whole of Europe to heat up during the cold times. With U.S citizens, the gas price right now is getting higher than ever. Beginning with $5 per gallon. Oh my God, it is so horrible. Besides, the inflation in the U.S right is yet to fix. Under the administration of Joe Biden, things seem to turn worse than ever. Dealing with Russia, they only know one thing is punishment not seeing clearly what is the best punishment for Russia. Thinking about this, Putin used to be a spy before he became a president. Every move of him will remain secret and there’s no way that people can understand what the hell he is planning. It is all in his hands right now. Putin even ignores the sanctions and does not treat it as a problem at all. Why? He has prepared for this case already.

I may want to suggest a solution for this “matrix”. Putting Russia inside the negotiation table and working with a deal with Russia. They can discuss the best solution for both sides in order for Russia to pull the troops out of Ukraine and end the sanction. On the side of Ukraine, ask them what they really want. If they want to join NATO, they have to make sure that they don’t threaten Russia with any kind of weapon from the West and they have to maintain the peace between Russia and the world like Kissinger had said. If they want to stay with Russia, Russia must be responsible for providing Ukraine what they want and helping them to develop the nation because at this moment, the position of Ukraine is not good and nothing here is growing up. They still depend on other countries and wait for help. It sounds so easy with my plan but to take any action on this plan, well, perhaps will be a long journey. Only if they know the meaning of peace.

I said that because they don’t have any solution towards peace. All they think about is this big fat world and a chance of the Third World War. Both sides want to show their powers, their arrogance, their pride, their strength, and neither side wants to settle this problem. It’s such a shame and a tragedy that even if William Shakespeare was still alive, he wouldn’t have a more tragic play than this reality. My mind keeps thinking about the recent situation and it takes me time to write this essay. The whole essay is my opinion. I write what I think. I don’t stand on either side of Ukraine or Russia. I stand with what is right and I stand with the people. Civilians in any country before the war, during the war, and after the war should deserve to have a better life, to live in a peaceful world, to receive prosperity, and to be happy.

Final thoughts

The wartime has gone far behind us. Our father had fought bravely for us to have peacetime. None of them wants another war to happen. The horror of war is more tragic than what any of us nowadays can imagine. Don’t let it happen! Don’t let any innocent people suffer! Don’t let any child go to battle without going back home! It has to be stopped immediately one way or another.

To end, I want to quote a saying from Martin Luther King. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” It is enough to summarize everything now, right?