Belarus And New Atlantic Charter

The liberation of the Belarusian people is the key to the disappearance of an aggressive monster from the geopolitical scene.

"...Without attempting to draw final and formal peace aims, or war aims, it was necessary to give all peoples, and especially the oppressed and conquered peoples, a simple, rough-and-ready wartime statement of the goal towards which the British Commonwealth and the United States mean to make their way, and thus make a way for others to march with them on a road which will certainly be painful and may be long,” Winston Churchill spoke about the results of the first US-British military summit in a radio address on August 24, 1941.

Recall that during his meeting with US President Roosevelt on board the American battleship Augusta near Newfoundland, they discussed the need to conclude a joint declaration, which later became widely known as the Atlantic Charter, and on August 14, 1941 agreed on the following:

First, no territorial gains were to be sought by their countries;

Second, territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned;

Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they seek to live, and want to see the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have been forcibly deprived of them;

Fourth, they will strive, with due respect for their commitments, to ensure that all nations, large and small, victorious and defeated, have free access to the trade and raw materials throughout the world necessary for their economic prosperity;

Fifth, they wish to achieve the fullest possible cooperation of all countries in the economic sphere in order to ensure better working conditions, economic progress and social security for all;

Sixth, after the final destruction of Nazi tyranny, they hope to see the establishment of peace that will allow all countries to live their lives safely within their borders, free from fear and need;

Seventh, such a world will allow all people to safely cross the open seas and oceans;

Eighth, in their opinion, all countries of the world, for realistic and spiritual reasons, should abandon the use of force. Since it is impossible to preserve the future world, if countries that threaten or may threaten aggression beyond their borders, will continue to use land, sea and air weapons. They believe that before the adoption of a broader and more sustainable system of common security, such countries are to be disarmed. At the same time, they will help peace-loving peoples rid themselves of the burden of armaments and encourage them to implement measures that make it easier for them to do so.

Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, author of "Histoire des relations internationales: De 1945 à nos jours", summed up the meeting between the American and British leaders and previous US actions aimed at strengthening US-British ties: “So, even before Pearl Harbor, the United States frankly abandoned the policy of neutrality. Their help to England went in all directions. President Roosevelt concluded that American democracy should not retreat in the face of the risk of war.

Unfortunately, even after February 2022, the world did not hear from the West statements of the same importance and strategic importance. It is a pity that the leaders of the Western world have still not been able to clearly declare their goals in countering Moscow's aggression, which undermines security in Europe and the world. Namely, this is demanded by those in the world who care about the fate of democracy, as well as Ukrainians who daily resist the barbaric invasion of the totalitarian Putin regime, which has recently lost legitimacy even in the eyes of those who, until recently, despite the actual dismantling of the constitutional order and the outright destruction of generally accepted rights and universal freedoms, considered it the legitimate head of the Russian Federation.

Those who often point to Russian power and talk about the complexity, or even futility, of efforts to bring the Kremlin usurper to justice should be reminded that in 1941, Nazi Germany controlled the economy of almost all of Europe and freely received the necessary strategic materials from abroad, was at the very peak of its military and political power.

But Putin's Russia, despite the fact that some still continue to cooperate with this clear violator of the UN Charter, is today in a clearly weaker situation. Outwardly, while everything looks quite strong and stable, GDP shows growth on military spending, but the rigid system of sole power itself carries potential sources of self-destruction.

Nor should Russia's real ability to wage a truly long-term war of attrition be overestimated. Monitoring of available information indicates the presence of such problems as insufficient provision of the Armed Forces of the aggressor with modern weapons and the poor state of military education and training of the troops. There is stagnation in industry and investment. As a result of the fall in tax revenues, almost half of the Russian regions have financial problems. The most affluent and predictable export markets have been lost. Limited access to new technologies and modern industrial equipment. Accidents at numerous critical infrastructure facilities are becoming more regular.

The master of the Kremlin is leading Russia to a real demographic catastrophe — the trends are clearly negative, in particular, only in the first quarter of this year the excess of mortality (479.300) over the birth rate (300.300) was recorded. That is, the difference was an impressive 179.600. Obviously, these figures do not include a significant share of military losses, which the authorities carefully conceal. There is an extremely acute shortage of labor in the country – 4.8 million people according to official data. Today, the main deterrent in the aggressor's economy is the shortage of personnel, in particular in industry and agriculture. The country lacks doctors, engineers, agronomists, drivers, construction workers, skilled workers, and even service workers. Irresponsible attempts to replace them at the expense of external migrants cause an increasing increase in tension on interethnic grounds.

It is in this context that we should consider the recent so-called "peace proposals to Ukraine" voiced by the Russian usurper during his visit to Minsk on May 24. Russia is for sure experiencing a constant accumulation of all sorts of problems related to the war. First of all, it would like to get rid of the most painful sanctions and avoid another mass mobilization, which will certainly cause discontent among the population and may exacerbate other problems.

We in Ukraine, our friends in many countries of the world, should even more systematically and powerfully — using modern Western weapons — put pressure on the vulnerabilities of the Russian Federation to weaken its ability to continue the war and ensure real security for our state. In particular, as do the Ukrainian forces, inflicting constant blows on the aggressor's refineries, which has already led to a drop in gasoline production by 20%, and diesel fuel – by 11% compared to December 2023.

Some may ask, how else does the above thesis of the Prime Minister of Great Britain relate to the present? What oppressed peoples can we talk about? The answer will concern the Belarusian and other peoples, whose national-democratic liberation is the key to the disappearance from the geopolitical scene of an aggressive monster stretching across Eurasia, and the explanation, or guide to action, is contained in the same speech: "We must give them hope; we must convince them that their suffering and resistance will not be in vain."

In other words, the free world should provide a second wind to the Captive Nations Week, which, since 1959, has been proclaimed annually, usually in July, by almost every US president.

This should be our common task. The strategic goal is a simple and understandable plan for how to achieve a truly lasting peace throughout Eurasia: from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. Such signals would be expected by the world from the current, jubilee, 50th meeting of the leaders of the G7, which is to be held on June 13-15 in Italy, and the no less jubilee, 75th NATO summit in Washington, scheduled for July 9-11, 2024.

Obviously, the time has clearly come for a new Atlantic Charter.

Oleh Belokolos, Director of the Ukrainian Center for National Resilience Studies