David Remnick Warns ‘Dangerous Brinksmanship’ Between Biden and Putin Could Lead to ‘Horrendous Bloodbath’
As tensions between the United States and Russia continue to go from simmer to boil, New Yorker editor David Remnick warned that the world could see massive bloodshed if the Ukraine situation ends up leading to insurgency and conflict.
Remnick joined Morning Joe on Wednesday, where he began by assessing the authoritarian motivations of Vladimir Putin. He made his points by referring to Russia’s repeated incursions into Ukraine over the last decade, plus he hypothesized that Putin is setting off tensions with Europe as a means to expand the “propaganda war” he maintains within Russia.
“He is holding a nation hostage, a democratic nation that troubles him, because he is angry, in retrospect, about the past,” Remnick said. “Putin, who is a failure in so many ways domestically, is able to use the propaganda of his own airwaves and his official publications — which takes up 90 percent plus or more of all press discourse. He is fighting a propaganda war to say that it is Russia that is encircled, Russia that is endangered, Russia is the victim.”
Mika Brzezinski acknowledged Remnick’s point by observing that if those are Putin’s intentions, “that doesn’t sound like there will be any type of diplomatic effort that could stop him.” Asked what are the options for NATO and the U.S. if the Ukraine situation leads to full-blown conflict, Remnick noted that Ukraine isn’t a NATO member nation, but “they’re trying to make it as difficult a decision as possible, a military level as well as a diplomatic level, for Putin.”
The counterbalance, Remnick noted, is that so much of Russia has bought into the pro-Putin narratives being pushed by state-run media, and propaganda has “a powerful ability to keep people acquiescent in Russia.”
“The people in Ukraine will rise up. If there is a real invasion, this is a nation of 40 million-plus people,” said Remnick. “There will be not only a military response but potentially, an insurgency. It could be a horrendous bloodbath, and not only for Ukrainians but for Russian troops and Russian presence as well. This is enormously dangerous brinkmanship.”
Remnick’s comments come a day after President Joe Biden said an incursion into Ukraine could “change the world,” and would mark “the largest invasion since World War II.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
