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March 29, 2022 - Epoch Times

20:47

Ukraine No Longer Insists On NATO Membership, Ready To 'Find Compromise' On Crimea

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	This is your daily Fox Matter Update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
	And now let's begin today's discussion by talking about Ukraine.
	And to start with, I've been getting a lot of comments over the past week or so asking me why, with such a large-scale conflict going on over there, have I not been reporting on Ukraine?
	And that's actually a really good question, which has a really simple answer.
	Right now, we are in what you can only call as the fog of war.
	And the fog of war does not only refer to what the soldiers on the ground experience, but it's the same for all of us.
	In fact, what wound up happening is that every story and almost every single video that I was sharing was later revealed to be not true.
	They were fact-checked and they were false.
	So instead, I've just been following the conflict quietly so that I can wrap my head around what's actually happening instead of randomly reporting whatever I see.
	Because as you are likely aware, right now, the world's propaganda machines are on full blast.
	And so today, let's go through some of the developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which are actually provable.
	And to start with, just yesterday, ahead of a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian diplomats, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, well, he came out and he laid out the conditions which need to be met in order for the Russian aggression to cease.
	Specifically...
	Mr.
	Dmitry Peskov, who is a spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, he said that Russian forces will halt all of their military operations if the Ukrainian government agrees to three demands.
	The first is to officially acknowledge that Crimea is Russian territory.
	Secondly, to recognize that the separatist regions in the east of Ukraine This specifically refers directly to NATO. However, there are reports of backroom meetings as well, which imply that besides these three public demands, while the Kremlin is also pushing for the full demilitarization of Ukraine.
	And to that end, here's specifically what Mr.
	Peskov said during a phone interview with Reuters.
	They were told, meaning their Ukrainians were told, that all this can be stopped in a moment.
	We really are finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine.
	We will finish it.
	But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action.
	They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot.
	Essentially, he's saying that the violence can stop immediately if the Ukrainian military stops defending their very own homeland.
	Regardless, what's really notable in that statement is that Mr.
	Peskov did not make clear whether Russian troops would actually withdraw completely from Ukraine if the conditions were met.
	He only very generally said that the fighting would stop, and so to be frank, it's unclear whether they are extending this offer in good faith.
	And especially so given the fact that 12 days prior to this offer, right before Russia actually started their invasion, Vladimir Putin made a speech wherein he said that he specifically is not going to invade Ukraine at all, and he's only going into those eastern regions.
	And so you can decide for yourself whether you believe the Russians or not.
	However, it appears that the Ukrainian leadership is actually potentially looking to strike a deal.
	That's because just yesterday during an interview with ABC News, President Zelensky hinted that he is willing to compromise on at least some of these proposals.
	For instance, on the topic of NATO specifically, it appears that Zelensky has actually changed his position.
	Here's what he said just yesterday on ABC News.
	Regarding NATO, I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago, after we understood that NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine.
	The alliance is afraid of controversial things and confrontation with Russia.
	We never want it to be a country that is begging for something on its knees, and we are not going to be that country, and I don't want to be that president.
	And then, in regards to the other demands that were being made by Russia, it appears that President Zelenskyy is looking to potentially compromise on that as well.
	Here's what he continued to say during that interview, again with ABC News.
	Quote, I'm talking about security guarantees.
	I think items regarding temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics that have now been recognized by anyone but Russia, these pseudo republics.
	But we can discuss and find the compromise on how these territories will live on.
	What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine.
	Now what he brought up there in his answer is a very lucid point that touches the very heart of what's happening on the ground in those separatist regions.
	Because in those separatist regions in the East and in Crimea, you do have a large proportion of people who consider themselves to be Russians.
	However, you also have a very sizable portion of people who consider themselves to be Ukrainians and who want to be part of Ukraine.
	And what he's bringing up is the fact that if those regions get recognized as their own republics or get annexed by Russia, well, what happens to the Ukrainians in that territory?
	What happens to them in regards to their humanitarian needs?
	Furthermore, during that same interview with ABC News, he went on to say that Ukraine is not going to compromise based on what he called ultimatums, implying that he would not negotiate with essentially a gun to his head.
	meaning that for there to be any real type of dialogue, it would have to be done amidst local pauses in the fighting, at least for the sake of the civilians, so that they could be evacuated.
	And that actually brings us neatly along to the humanitarian side of this war.
	And to start with, as of today, there are over 2 million Ukrainians who have fled the country and become refugees.
	Now, the majority of these Ukrainians have fled to Poland, followed by Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Russia, as well as other European countries in the West.
	And if you've seen videos of these refugees, well, you can see that many of them are fleeing with only the clothing on their backs and maybe a suitcase.
	And then furthermore, because of the Ukrainian policy of not allowing men between the ages of 18 to 60 to leave the country, well, there are a lot of families being separated at this moment.
	And then in terms of the men who are actually staying behind, well, many of them have taken up arms and are fighting back against the Russian offensive.
	Now, in terms of how the actual kinetic on-the-ground warfare is developing, let me throw up on screen for you a phenomenal map.
	This comes from a Twitter account that I follow of a military analyst.
	If you want to follow him as well, it's at Simtac.
	And as you can see, over in the city of Kiev, the Russian offensive is continuing with some pretty intensive fighting right there along the Dnieper River.
	Then, heading east, you have near the city of Kharkiv, you have the Ukrainian forces who have actually pushed the Russian forces back along one of the major strategic highways.
	However, as you can see there in the map, the bombardment on military and civilian targets are continuing in Kharkiv.
	Then, if you go down to the southeast, you have the city of Mariupol, which is currently being laid siege.
	And it's there that there is a big humanitarian crisis because in these situations, the civilians have a very hard time fleeing.
	And unfortunately, that is where a lot of the humanitarian issues and a lot of these civilian casualties are occurring.
	And down there in the southern part of the city, you see the city of Odessa, where there is likewise heavy fighting as well as civilian casualties happening as well.
	So that is the development in the war.
	Now domestically, you might have heard earlier today, Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will no longer be importing any oil from Russia.
	Here's in fact what he said in a statement just earlier today, quote...
	Today I'm announcing the United States is targeting the main artery of Russia's economy.
	We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy.
	That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine.
	This is a step we're taking to inflict further pain on Putin.
	And just for your reference, according to government estimates, specifically estimates from the Energy Information Administration, last year, which is 2021, when you average it out, the U.S. imported about 672,000 barrels a day from Russia.
	That makes up about 8% of the total U.S. imports of oil and other refined products.
	Now, of course, that's not spread out evenly across the entire country.
	For instance, over in Hawaii, Russian imports account for about 25% of their natural gas imports, so they're going to be feeling it a lot more than the rest of the country.
	But the rest of the country is feeling it as well.
	Here's a map from AAA. I'll throw it up on screen so you can see it more easily.
	And what it shows is that of Tuesday morning, so as of this morning, the cost of regular gas in the U.S. is $4.17, which is an all-time record high.
	Just for your reference, the previous national average high was $4.11, and that was set on July 2008 during the financial crisis.
	So, as you can see right now, the cost of gas in this country is quite literally the highest that it's ever been.
	$4.17 is, of course, the national average, but as you can see up on that map, you have places like California, which are seeing gas prices up into the $5 and even $6 range.
	So it is worth noting that the rise in fuel prices across the entire country, well, that affects a lot more than just the gas that we put in our cars.
	In fact, it'll likely have reverberations throughout the entire economy because the cost of getting and delivering and importing all those goods that we have in our store shelves, well, that will rise in tandem with the rising oil price.
	And it's this reality that is having the Biden administration now set up talks with countries like Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in order to have us import oil from them instead of from Russia.
	However, it's exactly those actions that are having significant pushback as well as criticism of the administration saying, hey, with just a stroke of a pen, the Biden administration could actually unlock America's own domestic production and have us once again become a net energy exporter.
	Now, as to what will happen in the coming weeks and months, only time will tell.
	However, the only thing that I can almost be assured of is that within, let's say, a month or two months, the energy situation in this country will be dramatically different than what it is today.
	Until then, let's head on back to the studio.
	If you'd like to read more about either the Kremlin's demands for Ukraine or generally more about this war, I'll throw the links to several phenomenal resources into the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And also, I'd like to mention that four members of our team are currently on their way to Poland right now in order to speak with the refugees who are fleeing Ukraine and see what's really going on there.
	And then if they have the opportunity, they're going to cross the Poland-Ukrainian border and go into Western Ukraine to do some on the ground reporting.
	And then we can show you what's really happening there.
	If you'd like to watch that content, the majority of it will be found over on Epic TV, which is our no censorship video platform.
	And the reason being the reason why we have to put so much of our content over on Epic TV was that I couldn't even believe it because I thought the Ukrainian war was not as controversial as, let's say, the vaccines or the vaccine mandates or the election.
	But the only other video that I actually published on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, well, it was flagged by YouTube.
	And then if you want to watch it, you had to not only click on the video, you had to then confirm that you really wanted to watch it.
	And then you had to confirm again that you are willing to put up with offensive and potentially inappropriate content.
	I guess that is just the reality of being an unapproved, non-mainstream media source here on YouTube.
	And so we publish our content, the majority of our content at least, over on Epic TV because over there there's no censorship and we can tell you what's going on without having to run through the self-filters that we have to do here on YouTube.
	Again, the link to Epic TV will be right there at the very top of the description box.
	And then if you click on that link and use promo code Roman, you can get a 14-day free trial.
	That way you can see if you like it.
	And I hope you do.
	That way you can continue your subscription and perhaps even share it with your friends and family.
	Again, the link will be right there in the description box below.
	And now, let's shift gears just a little bit and discuss what America's response to the war is, as well as what it could possibly be in the near future.
	Sorry.
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	And now Roman in the studio, back to you.
	Now, while I was down in Florida, I took the opportunity to sit down and speak with Mr.
	Madison Cawthorn, who is a congressman from North Carolina, and we discussed the best approach that America can take moving forward, not only in regards to Russia, but also in regards to China, as well as to the many issues facing us here domestically, right here at home.
	Take a listen.
	So, I'm a member of Congress.
	I was the youngest member ever elected in modern history.
	There's a guy elected younger than me previously, so if I go back in history, I'd probably take him out.
	But unfortunately, you know, when I got to Washington, D.C., I knew it was going to be corrupt.
	The reason I wanted to run so young is because I felt like if I waited until I was about 50, I wouldn't have a country left.
	And so I wanted to get up there to actually change the way Washington does business, but I did not expect to meet the machine that I did.
	And it is just so corrupt, and the people that are there are so feckless, so spineless, and so corrupted that it doesn't give you a lot of hope for the country.
	Well, okay, let's start with Ukraine, and then we'll branch off into something else.
	So let's say, not looking at what led up to the Russian invasion, but now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, and there's blood in the streets, there's missiles that are currently being fired, what do you think the best approach moving forward is going to be from an America standpoint?
	I didn't believe we should focus on becoming the strongest nation we possibly can.
	One, we're importing about 595,000 barrels of oil from Russia every single year since we shut down the Keystone Pipeline.
	That means that we are funding a war against a peaceful nation, that we are funding the first invasion of another nation in about 70 years to actually gain territory.
	And so when you start looking at what's going on in Ukraine, you realize this is a direct result of a weak America.
	When America is weak, the rest of the world feels like, oh, there's no enforcer, we're going to do whatever we want.
	And not that I want America to be the police of the world, but I do want us to be the strong man on the street to where the rest of the world is terrified because they know that we would destroy them if they were to step out of line.
	But unfortunately, that's not where we are now.
	And so I believe the greatest thing that we can do is to create a strong America moving forward to where our economic sanctions aren't just debilitating but completely crippling to their entire economy.
	What do you think is...
	Or is it even possible?
	Is there a way to, let's say, sanction Russia or to punish them in some other capacity without having them move closer in alignment with China?
	Well, yes.
	When you start thinking about it, you have Belarus, you have Mongolia, you have China, you have so many nations that are really butting up right close to Russia that are supporting them.
	And the whole thing that I am actually considering now is when you look at the Versailles Treaty after World War I, it basically put Germany in a position where they had to go to war because they were in such a terrible economic situation because of the sanctions that they were having to face.
	And I'm afraid that if we continue to add these on, this is a question that's going to require a significant amount of strategy from our foreign policy experts, but if we continue to pile these sanctions on Russia, then I I believe.
	What would just be barring them from saying, well, let's just keep taking territory.
	We're going to have a bad economy if we don't, but you can fund a lot of territory by just robbing the rest of the world of their treasure.
	So do you foresee, like, any possibility where that doesn't happen?
	Like, how can we, like, restrain Putin and at the same time not have that happen?
	I believe the best way to restrain Putin, one, is to continue to enforce our NATO allies.
	Not enforce, but continue to reinforce our NATO allies.
	And I believe Donald Trump did an incredible job of making sure that our allies within NATO started paying their fair share into the system to where it makes a lot of sense for us to be continuing that cooperation.
	But another thing I believe is we have got to support Taiwan.
	I believe this is just a sneak peek of what's going to be happening to Taiwan in the next few weeks.
	Again, I'm pretty isolationist when it comes to the rest of the world, but I do believe that we need to realize that the big problems that are facing America are not your gender pronouns.
	The difference in the Black Lives Matter movement versus Antifa, all these ridiculous things.
	This is just what happens when our country doesn't have a true enemy, and the people have just started fighting one another.
	But we do have a true enemy out there.
	China is trying to destroy our entire nation.
	I mean, you look at the way that they're using the algorithms for TikTok in North America, and it's encouraging people to, you know, learn a TikTok dance, to go viral, to get a lot of likes and shares.
	But if you look at how they're using their algorithm in China, they're focusing on making sure that their young men and young women are focusing on STEM and all their mathematics, all their engineering.
	They're focusing on eloquent speaking, being able to rally people and heroism and being strong.
	And so you realize that this is our true enemy.
	And so I genuinely believe that, you know, instead of giving $86 billion worth of weaponry to the Taliban, we should have given $86 billion worth of weaponry to Taiwan so that they could defend.
	I mean, they just had nine Chinese aircraft go into their air defense zone.
	And so I believe that we need to focus that these are our true enemies.
	We need to be very Machiavellian on the way that we go against them and we need to destroy them in every single way that we can with the minimal loss of blood.
	So one of the aspects you mentioned is that America needs to become very strong in many respects, right?
	I believe one of the issues that is going to really come up very soon is the national debt.
	Because about a month ago, the national debt crossed $30 trillion.
	But if you actually account for all the unfunded liabilities, you have Medicare and Medicaid, you have Social Security, you have all the pensions that are going to be going out to the military and government officials.
	When you factor that in, I've seen estimates as high as $160 trillion already, when you factor that in.
	So I guess one question is, what would be the plan moving forward?
	And then the second question is, after the midterm election, the Republicans are likely not only going to take back the House, but also the Senate.
	Do you believe that they can do anything?
	And if so, do they have the political will to actually tackle this large problem?
	Well, one, I believe, I'll answer these in reverse order.
	One, I believe that we are going to see elections like you've never had before to where a lot of these marginal non-establishment candidates will be getting elected.
	People like myself, people like Jim Jordan, these great conservative warriors who are going to be in both the Senate and the House, who are not going to play the status quo.
	I mean, these people, like myself, detest...
	The way Washington does their work.
	We don't like the way leadership runs in either house of Congress.
	And so I think you're going to start seeing a lot of people who are just going to start working for the good of the American people.
	And they're going to face a lot of backlash.
	And so just one thing to encourage the American people out there, when you have these great candidates who are elected and they start getting attacked by the mainstream media, that means they are over the target.
	They only attack what is hurting them.
	And the entire establishment in Washington, the entire media apparatus, This entrenched bureaucratic class, they're all one big collaborative.
	And so I believe we will see a lot of political will.
	And there's actually a big reason that I just introduced a new contract with America.
	The reason I did this is because the Republicans haven't really come out with a platform in the last four years.
	And I was just frustrated with that because we always so often get categorized as the party of no.
	And then people in our generation are being like, oh, well, you guys don't really stand for anything.
	You're just against everything.
	And I wanted to say, no, no, we actually have the conservative time-tested policies that will save this country.
	And so when we're talking about the national debt, you know, I think that we should, if you start to look at the Grace Commission that Ronald Reagan had, they found that over one-third of government spending is an actual somewhat form of a waste.
	And so just like the base closures and realignment commission we had, the BRAC Commission just shut down a lot of the bases that were unnecessary in our country.
	I think we should create a BRAC-style commission that will go through our government And find areas of waste and agencies that are kind of just redundant that we can then cut and destroy, therefore being able to actually handle the money that we have.
	I also think we need to turn around the mismanagement of Social Security.
	That's really getting into the minutia of the way that you do that.
	But, you know, we can't be an entitlement country.
	But the people that have paid into it, I believe they deserve to get their fair share.
	But we've got to stop this government spending.
	I think we can cut it by over a third.
	So that's part of the...
	Now again, that was not the full interview.
	If you'd like to watch the interview in its entirety, you can do so over on Epic TV. The link will be down there in the description box below.
	And of course, if you use promo code Roman, you can get a 14-day free trial.
	And then lastly, until next time, I'm your host Roman from the Epic Times.

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