News X interview of 14 February about the fall-out from Trump’s telephone conversation with Putin

Sometimes delayed presentation of a prerecorded interview fares better than what was produced by RT on Wednesday (12^th)  and aired yesterday. I have in mind the interview I gave to India’s NewsX on the 14^th after the stunning news of Donald Trump’s phone conversation with Vladimir Putin was already known, making clear the exclusion of Europe from the peace process by both super powers.

On assurances from the News X producers that this panel discussion would exclude the more obnoxious and least knowledgeable panelists of my previous session with them, which I had sworn would be my last, I agreed to participate, and as I look over the results, I have no regrets.  Indeed, even the strangely naïve propagandist in Kiev, Professor Haran, comes across here as a more worthy debating partner. Indeed, I can accept his word of criticism addressed to me, that ‘Russian’ war dead in WWII were actually Soviet war dead, of which the numbers killed in Ukraine and Belarus may have been especially large given that these were precisely the ‘bloodlands’ in which the opposing armies marched back and forth as the front moved this way and that. To be sure, the labels Belarus and Ukraine are themselves deceptive, given that ethnic Russians were always a large part of the respective populations of these Soviet Republics.  In any case, it is clear to me that the producers had a word with Haran about acceptable behavior beforehand.

The producers of News X insist that the real launch of their channel will come later this month when they seek to raise the level of their shows and to invite Prime Minister Modi to speak on air.

We shall see..

Translation below into German (Andreas Mylaeus)

News X-Interview vom 14. Februar über die Folgen von Trumps Telefongespräch mit Putin

Manchmal schneidet die verzögerte Ausstrahlung eines vorab aufgezeichneten Interviews besser ab als das, was RT am Mittwoch (12.02.) produziert und gestern ausgestrahlt hat. Ich denke an das Interview, das ich am 14.02 dem indischen Sender NewsX gegeben habe, nachdem die schockierende Nachricht von Donald Trumps Telefongespräch mit Wladimir Putin bereits bekannt war und den Ausschluss Europas aus dem Friedensprozess durch beide Supermächte deutlich machte.

Auf die Zusicherung der Produzenten von News X, dass bei dieser Podiumsdiskussion die widerlichsten und am wenigsten sachkundigen Diskussionsteilnehmer meiner vorherigen Sitzung mit ihnen, von der ich geschworen hatte, dass sie meine letzte sein würde, ausgeschlossen würden, stimmte ich zu, daran teilzunehmen, und wenn ich mir die Ergebnisse ansehe, bereue ich es nicht. Tatsächlich wirkt selbst der seltsam naive Propagandist in Kiew, Professor Haran, hier wie ein würdigerer Diskussionspartner. Ich kann seine an mich gerichtete Kritik akzeptieren, dass die „russischen“ Kriegstoten im Zweiten Weltkrieg eigentlich sowjetische Kriegstote waren, von denen die Zahl der Toten in der Ukraine und in Belarus besonders hoch gewesen sein könnte, da dies genau die „Blutländer“ waren, in denen die gegnerischen Armeen hin und her marschierten, während sich die Front in diese und jene Richtung bewegte. Die Bezeichnungen „Belarus“ und „Ukraine“ sind an sich schon irreführend, da ethnische Russen immer einen großen Teil der jeweiligen Bevölkerung dieser Sowjetrepubliken ausmachten. Auf jeden Fall ist mir klar, dass die Produzenten sich im Vorfeld mit Haran über akzeptables Verhalten unterhalten haben.

Die Produzenten von News X bestehen darauf, dass der eigentliche Start ihres Senders später in diesem Monat erfolgen wird, wenn sie versuchen, das Niveau ihrer Sendungen zu erhöhen und Premierminister Modi einzuladen, live zu sprechen.

Translation below into Spanish (Chod Zom)

Entrevista de News X del 14 de febrero sobre las consecuencias de la conversación telefónica de Trump con Putin

A veces, la presentación en diferido de una entrevista pregrabada sale mejor parada que lo que produjo RT el miércoles (12) y emitió ayer. Tengo en mente la entrevista que concedí a NewsX de la India el día 14, después de que ya se conociera la sorprendente noticia de la conversación telefónica de Donald Trump con Vladimir Putin, en la que se dejaba clara la exclusión de Europa del proceso de paz por parte de ambas superpotencias.

Con las garantías de los productores de News X de que esta mesa redonda excluiría a los panelistas más odiosos y menos informados de mi anterior sesión con ellos, que había jurado que sería la última, acepté participar, y al repasar los resultados, no me arrepiento.  De hecho, incluso el propagandista extrañamente ingenuo de Kiev, el profesor Haran, aparece aquí como un compañero de debate más digno. De hecho, puedo aceptar la crítica que me ha dirigido, según la cual los muertos de guerra «rusos» en la Segunda Guerra Mundial eran en realidad muertos de guerra soviéticos, de los cuales el número de muertos en Ucrania y Bielorrusia puede haber sido especialmente elevado, dado que éstas eran precisamente las «tierras de sangre» en las que los ejércitos enfrentados marchaban de un lado a otro a medida que el frente se movía de un lado a otro. Sin duda, las etiquetas de Bielorrusia y Ucrania son engañosas, dado que los rusos étnicos siempre fueron una gran parte de las poblaciones respectivas de estas repúblicas soviéticas.  En cualquier caso, me parece evidente que los productores hablaron de antemano con Haran sobre un comportamiento aceptable.

Los productores de News X insisten en que el verdadero lanzamiento de su canal se producirá a finales de este mes, cuando pretendan elevar el nivel de sus programas e invitar al Primer Ministro Modi a hablar al aire.

Ya veremos…

Transcript submitted by a reader

NewsX: 1:47
… European leaders are demanding a seat at the table in any future Ukraine peace talks. A joint statement insists that Ukraine and Europe must be involved in negotiations, but tensions rose after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders as unrealistic and ruled out NATO membership. European diplomats were blindsided when Donald Trump later spoke with Vladimir Putin, pushing for immediate negotiations.

We are joined for more on this discussion by Gilbert Doctorow, Russian affairs expert joining us from Brussels, and Professor Olexy Haran, professor of comparative politics, at the University of Kiev, Mohlya, joining us from Kiev. Thank you very much for joining us.

2:30
Gilbert Doctorow, I wanted to come to you first. And from your perspective, how credible do you find this accusation that a senior Ukrainian intelligence official was working as a Russian agent?

Gilbert Doctorow, PhD:
Well, anything is possible. So if they had been following him, I assume they had good reason. But I think it’s just a minor point in the day’s news. What happened in the Putin talks with Donald Trump is a completely different scale of importance.

NewsX:
We will move on to that very shortly. Professor Olexy Haran, can I get your thoughts on this, this accusation that a top Ukrainian anti-terror official was working as a Russian agent.

Haran: 3:17
Well, it’s difficult to comment, because we have only official official commentary about that. So look, just one thing I would like to say, he’s the former head of anti-terrorist group. It’s not right now, it was previously, okay? So, well, nothing to add basically.

NewsX:
Okay, thank you. We will move on to Gilbert Doctorow, and we will move on to European powers asking for inclusion in talks with Ukraine. What are the potential benefits and challenges of both Ukraine and European powers being included in these peace negotiations? Gilbert Doctorow, your thoughts.

Doctorow: 4:00
I think the chances of that happening are negligible. It was very clear not only from the context of Mr. Trump’s hour and a half discussion with Vladimir Putin, but it was in the context also of the remarks of the US Secretary of Defense Hegseth, that Europe will have no seat at the table. Ukraine will have no seat at the table, but this is a big-powers discussion between the United States and Russia, in which Ukraine is one element, and only one element of the subjects for discussion.

4:40
That was clear by Mr. Trump’s description of their discussion in his Truth Social platform, internet platform, this was among issues like artificial intelligence and how the United States and Russia should resume the kind of cooperative relationship they had in World War II when Russia was the single largest contributor in deaths and that means in fighting the Nazi armies in Europe. So the relationship was put in a very broad context for which the Europeans have no place at the table.

NewsX: 5:20
Professor Haran, I want to get your thoughts on this. Is there room for Ukrainian powers, I mean European powers, at the table in these negotiations? And are you concerned about Ukraine’s potentially not having a seat at the table in these negotiations?

Haran: 5:43
Well, but first of all, I would like to correct both Mr. Trump and Mr. Doctorow if we are talking about the role in World War II. It was, it wasn’t Russia. The country was called the Soviet Union. And actually most of those people who died were from Ukraine and Belarus. And that’s why after creation of the United Nations, Ukraine and Belarus received special seats in the United Nations. So we should differentiate between Russia and the Soviet Union.

Now basically, answering your direct question is– yes, we are disturbed. Definitely, there are some dangerous signs. But I need to say that from our point of view, the policy of Trump is still in the process of formation. So we’ll see how it will evolve. And if we are talking, you know, about direct negotiations between the United States and Russia, yes, there are dangers here, because we do not want to come to the world when the future of the world is decided by two countries. And I think for Indian audience, it’s very clear and important.

7:07
So we participate in this discussion by having our calls with Mr. Trump, his administration. And also, there is a plan for President Zelensky to meet a lot of members of Trump team at the Munich Security Conference and there is a plan also for a meeting between Zelensky and Trump. So if we are not directly involved, at least we have the room to discuss it with our allies.

NewsX:
My sincerest apologies gentlemen, we have run out of time for that segment. Thank you very much Gilbert Doctorow and thank you very much Professor Haran for joining us.

7:47
We will continue to move to more news updates.