Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich,
I write to you as a friend — or would-be friend — of Russia for many decades, starting before your birth in October 1952.
My first contact with the Soviet military took place in September 1952, while I was studying art in Vienna. The city, like all of Austria, was under four-power occupation until 1955, and I watched the changing of the guard as Soviet troops took responsibility for its international sector. The whole affair was very colorful, and I sketched the Soviet flag-bearer with flashing eyes and a beautiful mustache.
Photographs of parading Soviet troops were permitted, but my drawing seemed to violate the rules. A Soviet officer instructed me to follow him into a nearby building, where he thumbed through my sketch book. He stopped when he saw my image of a handsome Soviet officer in his fur hat and long coat strolling in a park with his son. My interrogator and I had no common language, but I understood what he said — “Amerikanets!”
He could not imagine that I, a Cold War antagonist, would render a Soviet officer as an attractive family man. This was my first glimpse of the inferiority complex that has disturbed Russia’s relations with the West for centuries.
My interrogator let me, and my sketchbook depart, but I resolved to study the Russian language, which I commenced, Vladimir Vladimirovich, even before you.
To try and understand your homeland better, I have spent decades researching the origins of Soviet and Russian policies on arms control. Like President John F. Kennedy, I learned about the enormous suffering of the Soviet peoples in your (and our) Great Patriotic War.
As an exchange student at Moscow State University in 1958 and 1959, I experienced the great warmth and curiosity many Soviet citizens felt toward Americans — an experience repeated in other visits over the years.
Most American presidents have tried to understand Russia’s problems and to cultivate better relations between our countries. But your policies — repression at home and aggression abroad — have made this goal unattainable. Even I, a lifelong advocate of negotiated conflict resolution, now argue against seeking compromise with you.
What inspires this letter are the images of Western-made bombs and missiles destroying your tanks and weapons depots one by one. A supporter of Ukraine’s independence must welcome the destruction of alien forces that have been ravaging it since 2014.
But what about the human beings ordered to operate the tools of war for your Special Military Operation? American and European weapons, along with Ukrainian drones, are ending the lives of hundreds of thousands of Russians who have no understanding of their role in this conflict. What a horrible end they suffer while carrying out your orders.
Ukrainian losses are proportionately even greater — not just soldiers killed and wounded, but families uprooted, buildings and infrastructure destroyed, its rich black earth and abundant wildlife poisoned. Now the Ukrainians are blowing up your fuel depots and ships, bringing the consequences of war into Russia itself.
What a waste! And for what? If you wanted Ukraine to be part of Russia, it is now more hostile and remote than ever. If you opposed Ukraine joining the West, it is becoming a virtual member of NATO — now buttressed, thanks to you, by Sweden and Finland.
Did you want Russia to be a modern country that thrives on high technology? Desperate for war money, your state now depends more than ever on oil and gas exports.
What does Russia gain from lands occupied in Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine? None of these acquisitions are recognized as legitimate by international institutions.
Does your personal wealth require that Russia fights to hold and expand its borderlands? Your possessions are surely adequate for a more than comfortable existence for you and your family. In the world’s largest territory, you could surely find a pleasant niche or two where you could hunt, fish, and motorcycle when not perusing Russia’s ancient chronicles.
Please do me a favor: Pull back your troops so no one is forced to decide if they should cheer or cry when your people disappear in puffs of smoke.
Sincerely,
Walter
Walter Clemens is Associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science, Boston University. He wrote Blood Debts: What Putin and Xi Owe Their Victims (Washington DC: Westphalia Press, 2023).
Europe’s Edge is CEPA’s online journal covering critical topics on the foreign policy docket across Europe and North America. All opinions expressed on Europe’s Edge are those of the author alone and may not represent those of the institutions they represent or the Center for European Policy Analysis. CEPA maintains a strict intellectual independence policy across all its projects and publications.
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