This Ukrainian official’s bizarre outburst is embarrassing for his side since it exposes them as crybabies who’ll selectively throw temper tantrums whenever certain forces fail to bow to their demands to “isolate” Russia. What he and his ilk don’t want to acknowledge, however, is that the US itself recently abandoned the policy of maximally trying to “isolate” Russia after inviting its representatives to participate in this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Conference events that it’s hosting as part of its chairmanship of that bloc.
Zelensky’s senior advisor Mikhail Podolyak, who escaped his boss’ ongoing purge of the Ukrainian “deep state”, is having a meltdown over the possibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He ranted on Twitter earlier in the week that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) “is a promoter of war, murder & destruction”, supposedly takes pleasure in Russia’s so-called “genocide”, and is allegedly bribed by the Kremlin.
The IOC immediately hit back by condemning Podolyak’s “defamatory statements” and pointing out that “They cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion.” That Ukrainian official’s bizarre outburst is embarrassing for his side since it exposes them as crybabies who’ll selectively throw temper tantrums whenever certain forces fail to bow to their demands to “isolate” Russia. Kiev’s threat to boycott next year’s global sporting event is similarly embarrassing for the exact same reason.
What Podolyak and his ilk don’t want to acknowledge, however, is that the US itself recently abandoned the policy of maximally trying to “isolate” Russia. American senior official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) Mike Murray declared last December that Russian representatives will be invited to this year’s events that his country is hosting as part of its chairmanship. Kiev didn’t react to that development since it knows better than to bite the hand that literally feeds it.
Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that its leadership was furious since Russia’s participation in APEC is incomparably more important than its participation in next year’s Olympics. After all, that aforementioned framework is economic-centric and nowadays prioritized by Moscow as a key pillar of its comprehensive diversification from the West. By contrast, participating in the Olympics is just about pride and prestige, with no tangible benefits for its economic or other interests.
It should also be mentioned in this context that the sanctions dimension surrounding the “official narrative” about the Ukrainian Conflict decisively shifted earlier this week after the New York Times (NYT) admitted that the West’s unilateral restrictions against Russia were a failure. That Mainstream Media outlet cited experts and even the IMF which both concluded that this targeted Great Power’s economy has returned to its pre-special operation level and is no longer contracting.
Just like it didn’t publicly react to Murray’s statement, so too did Kiev remain silent after the NYT’s latest report shattered yet another part of their plot to maximally “isolate” Russia. This observation makes Podolyak’s meltdown over the IOC’s reported talk about returning Russian and Belarusian athletes to the Games more embarrassing than anything else since it proves that this is nothing but a distraction from the fact that it’s impossible to “isolate” Russia in any meaningful sense.
Kiev is literally powerless to influence American policy vis-à-vis pressuring its patron to exclude Russian representatives for this year’s APEC events that it’s hosting, nor does it have any sway whatsoever in preventing the NYT from informing the world that the West’s anti-Russian sanctions were a failure. Its leadership can only watch from the sidelines in shock as the “official narrative” about the conflict continues shifting, with the most unstable among them melting down on Twitter like Podolyak just did.
"Mikhail Podolyak’s Meltdown Over Russian Athletes At The Olympics Is Embarrassing"
Why? They invaded Yugoslavia, Iraq, killed about 1 million people there, invaded Libya, Syria (currently occupying one third), spent 20 years in Afghanistan...
Oh :P!