Having the Canadian Prime Minister sitting around the table with Vladimir Putin would do nothing more than give Putin false and unearned legitimacy.
Time and time again, U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to create a false moral equivalency between leaders of democracies like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and dictators like Vladimir Putin. Despite Zelenskyy repeatedly agreeing to peace proposals and Russia repeatedly rejecting them, Trump continues to blame Zelenskyy. Despite it being obvious to nearly everyone that Russia started the war against Ukraine, Trump often blames Ukraine, his predecessor Joe Biden, and everyone other than Putin.
And now, it seems Trump has invited the Russian dictator – a dictator responsible for a brutal land war in Europe that has resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people – to join his so-called ‘Board of Peace’.
According to Reuters, “The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, and that Moscow is studying the proposal and hopes for contacts with Washington concerning it.“
While it’s possible this is Russian misinformation intended to scuttle the ‘Board of Peace,’ that could quickly be addressed with a White House denial. If a denial is not forthcoming and the invite is real, then it is absolutely disgraceful. And if Putin ends up joining, it would simply be untenable for Prime Minister Mark Carney to accept the invitation.
A ‘Board of Peace’ featuring the Russian dictator alongside credible democratic leaders like Carney would provide Putin with unearned legitimacy and would give him a platform that he has been so far denied. It would be deeply disappointing if Canada were to participate in such a process. Thus, even though it could bring economic and political blowback on Canada, it is essential that – if the Putin invite goes through – Carney chooses not to participate. And while this could generate controversy, other democratic leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, have stated that they will not participate, which would give Carney some diplomatic cover.
At a certain point, the world must stop rushing to appease Trump’s whims. His ongoing push for the annexation of Greenland only shows that the more the world concedes to him, the more his appetite grows.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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