Even the minorities of the former great empire who aspire to independence are wondering what the tycoon’s approach to the Ukrainian question will really be and what consequences it may have for their battles. Intellectual Kharun ar-Rusi: Washington has always been Russocentric even in its support for Putin’s opponents
Moscow (AsiaNews) – Donald Trump’s new presidential term could become a problem, or an opportunity that must also be taken advantage of for the decolonization of Russia’s minor peoples, according to expert Kharun ar-Rusi (Vadim Sidorov). one of the founders of the Russian Muslim movement, researcher at the Faculty of Philosophy at Karlov University in Prague and author of numerous articles in various magazines and platforms such as Idel.Realii. It underlines the crucial importance of Ukraine to the various regional movements, and the White House’s decisions regarding kyiv will have great resonance for all the people of Russia.
The new American president has repeatedly stated that he has no intention of fighting against foreign governments, even if they do not meet the criteria of Western democracy, and even more so against those that challenge the territorial integrity of their own States with totalitarian regimes, such as that of the Kremlin. In fact, even previous Washington administrations did not support the cause of post-Soviet decolonizers any more than any other Western governments, except in words.
According to Kharun, Americans and Europeans are inclined, at best, to support “Russian-centric oppositions” such as Naval’nyj, Kara-Murza or Jašin, who for minority representatives are only trying to “clean up the image.” of Russia, without giving up imperial ambitions. A demonstration of this would be the recent exchange of prisoners between Russians and Westerners, which did not include a single representative of regional autonomist movements. In the West, wide freedom of expression is granted to Russian dissidents, but with little openness to those who would like a “dismemberment of Russia.”
The new Trump administration could significantly reduce humanitarian aid to the many non-governmental organizations, media and human rights activists, although such support was not lacking in his previous term. The Washington Administration then explicitly supported the cause of the Turkic-speaking peoples persecuted in China, introducing sanctions for violations of the rights of the Uyghurs.
Their hope, therefore, is that these practices of solidarity with the less favored peoples are not interrupted, at least so that the US does not lose its image as a world leader; And since Trump is a businessman who places more importance on practical things, this may not be limited to mere statements. Kharun underlines the decisive role of Ukraine in the perspective of de-Russification, which is the main reason for Putin’s war against “Western influences”, in fact “against the will of the peoples to achieve their independence.”
As much as there is talk of a possible agreement between Trump and Putin, this should not mean the liquidation of Ukrainian statehood as an alternative to Russia, and reflexively could also strengthen the aspirations of the other peoples of the former tsarist and Soviet empire. As much as Trump’s realism does not bode well for the future of Ukraine in its territorial integrity, the hope is that the American president will not leave the entire country at the mercy of Putin, also considering its statehood recognized by international standards.
Saving Ukraine means “saving the entire Western civilization,” Kharun believes, and giving hope to all the oppressed peoples of the world, and especially the Eurasian world. However difficult it may be for Ukraine to preserve its national identity, other nationalities that do not enjoy a recognized state structure can also continue to “claim their own history, their own linguistic, cultural and geographical specificity”, regardless of the political orientations of the world superpowers, but making use of the different skills and specificities of each leader, including those of the “realist” Donald with his defense of the American people, formed in turn in the relationship between different peoples and different histories.
