Ukraine, Russia | Ukrainian ex-president to frontal attack on Putin: – A fatal mistake

– There is a total lack of political system that allows this little man to speak to the world without respect.

The “little man” referred to is the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. The person speaking is Viktor Yushchenko, the man who had to survive a poison attack before he could become president of Ukraine in 2005.

In front of a packed hall at OsloMet, Yushchenko lectured on the future of his homeland and the politics that led Russia to war.

– One wonders if he woke up one day, had a little too much to drink, and then started a war against Ukraine and the rest of the world, he says to chuckles from the audience.

He is not gracious when he describes how he believes his old counterpart has shaken Russia.

– He has never known how to create a strategy. It is madness when he drags 140 million Russians into a war for absolutely no reasonable reason. The war is a fatal mistake for Russia, says Yushchenko to Nettavisen.

Read also: Wild speculation: – Possible Putin replacement

– Peace is always a result

From time to time it is written about what a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia should look like. On Monday, Norway’s Minister of Defense, Bjørn Aril Gram (Sp), was quite clear that it is Ukraine that sets the conditions for what a peace agreement entails.

– Peace is always the result of something. It comes after one has won or lost. Both are peace. But I know which one I would choose. I cannot live under Russian rule. Peace on Russian terms would only be an extension of Russian colonialism, says Yushchenko.

He also believes that Ukrainians as a people should continue to fight and that there is no other option.

– If you haven’t managed to defend your country for a generation, then you haven’t really managed to do anything at all. We don’t want a West and East Germany situation, or something similar to the one in Korea, he says.

– Positively surprised

During the Oslo visit, the former president visited Oslo City Hall, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and OsloMet. He also took part in a commemoration outside the Storting on the occasion of Liberation Day.

When the war broke out, many of Europe’s leading military powers were restrained in their deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine. This has later changed and the country has received both modern tanks, and these days is taking over F-16 aircraft.

Although the former president allowed himself to joke about the German donations in particular, he says that he is pleasantly surprised by the support.

– I was pleasantly surprised that over two years the world has managed to mobilize so quickly, and has come up with the Ramstein format. It is not easy to gather 54 nations, but it has become a great international success, says Yushchenko.

Before Yushchenko could become Ukraine’s president in 2005, he had to go through quite a journey. First he was poisoned and had acid thrown in his face by what were probably pro-Russians. He nevertheless returned in time to stand for election. It was this election that would trigger the Orange Revolution in Ukraine – orange because it was the color of Yushchenko’s election campaign.

First, pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner of the election, before large numbers of Ukrainians gathered in the streets to demonstrate. The election was declared invalid as a result of electoral fraud. It all ended with re-election where Yushchenko was elected. He remained president until 2010 when Yanukovych legally beat him in the presidential election.

Stay up to date on the war in Ukraine, listen to the Ukrainapodden on Spotify, and all other podcast platforms.

Read more about the Orange Revolution here: The Orange Revolution was not in vain