Ukraine, amb. Stefanini: “May 9? Either Moscow celebrates victory or announces war”

On May 9, the Russian Federation celebrates Victory Day, in memory of the defeat of Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War: “It is a date that cannot be overlooked in the narrative. Or Russia is able to celebrate a success of what she calls ‘a special operation’, or is forced to explain that the ongoing conflict becomes a war, like the patriotic one of 1941-1945, ignoring the fact that in that case it was Russia that was attacked, not like now to attack “. Stefano Stefanini, former Italian ambassador to NATO and diplomatic adviser to the former president of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, now senior advisor to Ispi, traces the possible scenarios to Adnkronos in view of the fateful date of May 9: “This is the point – he remarks – if Russia cannot celebrate this anniversary with some military success, then it will be forced to make this connection by declaring a state of emergency. ” What could the Russians consider a victory? “The control of eastern Ukraine, including the coastal strip, through the conquest of some territories. By now it seems to have returned to the 1930s – observes Stefanini incredulously – without a UN card, without the right to self-determination of peoples. A return to the past. of the current Russian leadership that pushes other countries to review positions they believed they had acquired “. According to the former diplomatic adviser of Napolitano, the announcement of the continuation of the war after the ‘Victory Day’ cannot be ruled out “in a perspective not of blitzkrieg but of attrition. May 9 could turn into a sort of call to arms, on a day in which the patriotism of the Russians, who 70 years ago defeated the Germans, is appealed against the Ukrainian Nazis, since that of de-Nazification is an element that Moscow has used and continues to use “. “We are in a situation that no one in Italy or in Europe had imagined could happen in 2022 – states the Ambassador – It can be hoped that countries like China will keep Putin from a dangerous escalation. But May 9 will certainly be the date that will come. used in the construction of this war: either to celebrate the victory, or to re-update the Russian political narrative to belligerence, with the declaration of a state of emergency as it happened in the 1940s and a further tightening of the brakes on anyone who dares to disagree with intensification of the war effort in defense of the homeland “. In Ukraine? “No predictions can be made – he replies – Russia has given no indication of wanting to widen the conflict, nor NATO of wanting a military confrontation with Moscow. But with a war in progress, events can get out of hand. tactical nuclear weapon to avoid defeat, Russia possesses chemical weapons that it has already used in Syria. If such a hypothesis is created, the conditions are set for an escalation, in addition to all the barbarities we have witnessed so far. Not for nothing – concludes Stefanini – the warnings to Putin not to use weapons of mass destruction have been said and reiterated by both the US and NATO “. (by Roberta Lanzara)