You may or may not know of Andrew Korybko but I felt justified in using his name in the title line of this piece because the guy has so incensed me. I had no intention of writing tonight – being content to let matters of global importance ride along as they will until a clearer picture emerges. And, as I said in my last piece, all is going along smoothly (the overblown and short-lived Prigozhin incident notwithstanding) and there not being anything to really discuss or to worry about just now. But all that came to a sudden stop when I read something online a short while ago.
Several times I have enthusiastically shared recent articles published on the online site of Rossiyskaya Gazeta and written by Andrew Korybko. His writing was a breath of fresh air in the mediascape that forms my own news and opinion domain. Author of The Automatic Earth news site, Ilargi, also caught on to this fresh face of apparently reliable and relevant script and has recently featured Korybko’s writings in his occasional editorials. But in two recent Korybko articles I found on the Automatic Earth site – that is, they were not published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta but on Korybko’s own blog – he appears to have gone completely off-script and is in fact spreading mis/disinformation (I don’t have time to analyse which). Could it be that RG has refused these articles? An interesting thought.
OK, having made accusations, I had better put up some detail.
In the first of these offending blogged articles – ‘Putin Strongly Suggested That A Political Solution To The Proxy War Is Still Possible’ – that assertion is actually false. There was no such ‘strong‘ assertion. And Korybko goes on to suggest there, in fact to build a case that would see this as the main thrust of Putin’s current agenda. This is simply wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Have I emphasised that strongly enough? I think not, but I will leave it there and continue. Let’s actually call it what it is. It is a pack of misleading lies.
That shoddy story was published (self-published, by Korybko) earlier this week on June 20, 2023. To add injury to insult, tonight I read a second Korybko piece, on The Automatic Earth, which refers back to his earlier piece and which goes on to criticise and censure the much loved and respected Pepe Escobar for the content of a recent article positing the opposing view that Russia should not stop the Special Military Operation in Ukraine until all (ALL) of the published prerequisites have been met.
The second Korybko blog post is here – ‘Prigozhin’s Treason Is Unacceptable No Matter One’s Opinion Of The Special Operation’ or at The Automatic Earth – where Ilargi dissassociates himself from Korybko’s views.
The Pepe Escobar article Korybko cites is here – “Cries and Whispers Along the Russian Watchtowers”.
Look, I admit to not having more than skim-read these later two articles but I trust the views of Pepe Escobar absolutely – and would say so if it were ever to become otherwise. I used to believe the best of Andrew Korybko, but now I must doubt his motives and alliances. He is now the one, of which the published – at least the self-published – material must be held to be suspect, not Pepe.
It is also clear that Mr Putin did talk about the possibility of a political solution for this situation. Such is always possible, until it isn’t, and the likelihood of reaching any kind of agreement with a non-agreement-capable west must be something approaching zero. And I strongly disagree that this is what Mr Putin sees as the main or only way forward. There is only one goal the Russian leadership has in mind and it has been stated and restated – without alteration – many times since December 2021. There is nothing in those requisite conditions that any part of the west would in any circumstance agree to or accept in any peace settlement. Nothing. Nothing at all. Other than in the circumstance where they saw no other choice than complete capitulation to Russia’s demands. And what is more, there is no other condition or set of conditions, to which Russia would herself agree. Even if that means taking this conflict to the borders of Ukraine – I mean the NATO borders – and, if necessary, all the way to the borders of Europe – the Atlantic and Arctic borders – and also to the heartland of the USA. And that is the crux of the matter. In fact that is all that matters. This is neither a joke nor an impossibility. For Russia, and those – including myself – who stand with her, these are the only limiting factors. Of course, if these same results can be achieved by a political settlement – before it is necessary to take it to those limits – then yes, a political settlement is always possible.
So, Mr Korybko, please desist from pursuing the false line of reasoning that you have been pushing. It will never work. It will never be acceptable, and it calls into question your own allegiances and motives.
I would like to say more but time constrains. I may continue this later – when I have a more settled disposition. However, if you actually read these articles, and possess more than a modicum of built-up knowledge surrounding these issues, I feel sure you would come to the same conclusions as myself.
That’s it for now.
Not Something Else 
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