Ex UK and EU MP Nirj Deva, who also ran for the post of UN Secretary General, spoke to The New Indian Express about reasons of Russian attack on Ukraine and its impact on the world.
The UN and US have failed to stop the Russian attack on Ukraine. What would it take to stop this war?
The war will stop when hard sanctions bite and the Russian economy collapses. Russia's fragile economy is based on oil, gas and diamonds. It exports no serious manufactured goods. The ill-advised war will hit Russia badly.
You have asked the UN Secretary General to play a more proactive role. Why do you think the Secretary General may succeed where the world community has failed?
The UN was set up after World War II to stop this kind of war. To compel nation states to recognise boundaries and mutual sovereignty. The current UN under (Antonio) Guterres has been asleep. It fled the Covid crisis leaving each nation to do whatever they thought best. There was no global leadership nor global management of a global crisis. Guterres is the worst Secretary General we have had for a long time. He is pontificating from New York instead of going to Kiev and showing solidarity.
If the Secretary General had been in Ukraine now and committed to staying until the problem was resolved, if the full UN Security Council had met and stayed in Kiev, Putin would dare not have attacked because attacking them would be like attacking the whole world. Putin, having ignored the hot air coming from New York, is doing as he pleases unfettered.
What actions do you expect from NATO after the Russian attack? Do you see NATO going all-out to defend Ukraine?
Yes. It's a crucial test for NATOs relevance in the modern day. It's a defensive alliance and now that must be demonstrated.
Will NATO still go ahead and induct Ukraine as a member?
Putin's ambition is not to conquer Ukraine and rule it but to turn it into a failed State like Afghanistan. He is wrong if he thinks this will make Russia safer.
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Boris Johnson has been accused of imposing weak sanctions against Russia. Could stronger sanctions have deterred Russia?
Stronger sanctions are coming. They will make the pips squeak.
You had said allowing Russia to redraw borders will let hell break loose in every post-colonial non-homogeneous border. Where all do you see trouble erupting in the future taking a cue from the Russian attack?
All over Africa, colonial boundaries make no sense with tribes cut in half. Putin’s action will embolden local warlords to think of themselves as tribal saviours; as Putin himself is doing, practising 18th century imperialism.
Do you think the US could have done more to prevent this invasion? #BidenIsAFailure is already trending on Twitter.
History will tell. I think Trump for all his idiosyncrasies would have been tougher and more in Putin’s face like he was with the North Korean dictator.
There are conflicting views on why Russia attacked Ukraine. As a senior European leader, what do you think is the main reason?
The claim that NATO was on its borders was window dressing by Putin. If that's so why is he not complaining about Poland? The main reason is he thinks he is a modern day Tsar rebuilding a new Imperial Russia. He cannot accept the dissolution of the Soviet empire.
How do you think the war would impact the world?
Developing countries would be badly affected with oil at $180 dollars and gas in short supply. Freight rates will go up, world trade will shrink and container bottle necks will emerge.
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