It’s not only about Putin: What must change in Russia

I would like the Russian regime as such to disappear, because Putin is one story, but we need to reboot the regime itself. As long as this regime exists, it will hate us and it will never consider us equal. It will always consider us part of its empire. It's in their heads. And this is part of their essence, which you can't even call ideology (because they don't have an ideology, and they don't have a nation either, whether a Russian nation exists or not).

They wanted Ukraine to become a country that not exist. And in fact, they are increasingly becoming an empire that does not exist. What do they have? They look entirely to the past, and have no vision for the future. Here, we have an image of the future. Agree on this. Now and forever. We must become part of the West and have a voice there. We must become part of the European Union and NATO. We understand what we want: to build and transform the country as a unique example. That is, we have ambitions. Yes, some have laughed at us, but by now it is we who are laughing, and during this war they have shut up very quickly.

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But what is this country’s dream? To look into the past? A country or an empire that has no image of the future will surely cease to exist. And I believe that we must all work to ensure that this regime ceases to exist altogether. This is a feudal regime, where there is a king, boyars, merchants, and serfs. This existing regime threatens everyone. So it is not only a matter of Putin personally, but about all those who gave him this advice, who pushed for a war against Ukraine, and who also see their future in some kind of empire. This empire must finally be destroyed. There were Roman politicians who always said “Carthago delenda est.” This is what we must say.

The matter is entirely not only about Putin. Putin is only the personification of this regime.

The reboot of the regime cannot be done at the expense of internal resources. Who is there who can reboot this Russia?! There is definitely nobody from within. We remember what happened to Nazi Germany or Japan, where there were occupations. Therefore, external influence is needed; for this task and to protect the world from this regime.

Will it be within the existing borders of the Russian Federation? Will it be within other borders? Personally, I sincerely believe that for many peoples of the Russian Federation, it would be happiness to hold their fate in their own hands. Why should the Yakuts listen to what they are told in Moscow? Let them build their destiny according to their vision for the future. And thus for everyone.

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At the same time, I am not calling for any particular option. But for me, the red line is that this regime should cease to exist. This requires a strategic weakening of the Russian Federation. In addition to the existing sanctions, there should be others — on the mining sector, on Rosatom, and to completely cut off their banking sector. The Russian elites/clans understand very well that becoming a colony of China in the 21st century is not their dream, so they will also look for other options for what Russia will look like.

We will not be able to live with this regime in safety because its entire ideology is built on the idea of, “let's restore our empire, our Soviet Union, and we will live the way we live, but we will be proud of the country we invented.” This is part of their ideology. I believe that a reboot of the Russian regime may happen this year. No one can say whether it will be final. This is all speculation. But at least the beginning could happen this year.

Will Ukraine join the European Union? Ultimately, we will not complete this work this year. But we can start it formally. Start the negotiation process and understand how Ukraine will join the EU. We need to rewrite our entire strategy, in particular, energy, agrarian, and digital. We have a vision for the future. Now we have to write it down in our strategy and start negotiations with the EU based upon it. We have to show the EU what kind of Ukraine we want and what kind of Ukraine will join the EU. We should not be told this in Brussels. This is what we have to say to Brussels. And this process should start this year.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine