http://sep.stanford.edu/sep/jon/putin.html

In 2021 Vladimir Putin begged President Biden for a public discussion.
President Biden did not respond.
Now we have war.


--Jon Claerbout




English: Vladimir Putin: (3/18/2021)

"I would like to invite President Biden to continue our discussions, but on the condition that we do it, actually, "live" as they say, online. Without any delays, just as an open and direct discussion. It seems to me, this would be interesting for the Russian people, and the people of the United States, and many other countries."




Russian: Vladimir Putin: (3/18/2021)
Господин Путин: "Я хочу предложить президенту Байдену продолжить наши дискуссии, но при условии, что мы это сделаем фактически в прямом эфире, что называется, онлайн. Но без всяких задержек, а прямо в открытой, прямой дискуссии. Мне представляется, что это было бы интересно и для народа России, и для народа Соединённых Штатов, да и для многих других стран."

President Biden did not respond to Putin's invitation.   Now we have war.

When the war began I was horrified that my Youtube discovery had been blocked.   I had no proof Putin had ever made his request!   Fortunately, friends found for me the quotation in media both print and video.   Here, have a look:

  1. Read it on US News (March 18, 2021) .
  2. Read it at Reuters (March 18, 2021).
  3. View it at ABC-TV-Youtube (1:40).
  4. View it at FOX-Hannity-Youtube (6:39).   Google search turns this up for me a year later.   Back then, 10,580 people commented on it.
  5. Biden calls Putin a killer (2:31)   FOX Youtube 7000 viewer comments.
  6. All the news that's fit to print?   I don't see it at NYT.   NYT should have told Joe Biden to accept Putin's request.   Joe Biden could have prevented the war by accepting Putin's request for a public conversation on the issues that concerned him.  
  7. The Washington Post is pay-walled. A Google search for it turns up nothing.
In the days of nuclear testing, an invitation such as Putin's would have been headline news at the New York Times and the all the corporate media.   Today, I find no news report of President Biden's response.   NYT is complicit in the war, IMHO.  

Talk is cheap. War is slaughter of the innocents.

Am I wrong to presume top-level discussion could have headed off the Ukraine war?   Not to talk?   For what purpose?   We can only guess:

  1. Our corporate media feels that Biden could not handle such a debate.
  2. Our president is not our top level. Our top level is the NSA/CIA bureaucracy, the tormenters of General Michael Flynn for example.
  3. Perhaps our security-military-industrial complex fears budget cuts?  
  4. Could Joe Biden handle a debate with Vladimir Putin?
  5. Joe Biden's party couldn't trust him to handle it.

Since you don't know me, I must preface this paragraph by emphasizing that [[["I am not a Trump supporter!"   In presidential primaries, I contributed $1500 to "socialistic" Democrat Andrew Yang, $1000 to populist Democrat Bernie Sanders, and $500 to "pacifistic" Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.   Nothing to Donald Trump. ]]]
Could Donald Trump have handled Putin?   He wrote a book on "The Art of the Deal."   Donald Trump had gone to North Korea to talk to Kim Jong-Un.   Trump organized the Abraham Accords. Now Israeli airplanes land in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia.   He had negotiated a pull-out with the Afghan Taliban.   Maybe Trump never went to Afghanistan, but either he or his close agent(s) must have gone to Pakistan. Trump is smart. He can handle a debate.   Trump has spoken with Putin.   He claims he would stop Putin from using the word "nuclear."   In 2023 Trump claims he could get Putin and Zelensky to make a deal. We know what came of Joe Biden's non-policy.  

Not too long ago presidents could work with their opposition party, and congress held important discussions.

Blocked Youtube

Before Putin's war I found this video available on Youtube where it included extra speech surrounding Putin's invitation to Biden.   I recall he made that plea twice in that now blocked Youtube so I chose the word "begged" for my title above.  
Here is where it was (2:51)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGLSSFS8iwQ

Since the war began I find that link reports "Video unavailable // This video is not available in your country."   It seems not available in Europe, at least European friends tell me that.   I am not able to get reports from Russia or China.   If anyone can send me a copy of the original, I would post it here at Stanford University. Have you got VPN Virtual Private Network? Maybe you can find it for me.

What would you say to Putin?

Familiar to all Russians is the Marxist claim of historic inevitability, so I’d say:
What does the future hold?   NATO will not last forever.   NATO evaporates as its enemy evaporates.   NATO’s enemy evaporates when Russia joins the European Union.   What are the rules for joining the European Union?

Russia nearly qualifies to join the EU.   But Russia’s Duma fails.   It fails to debate political issues and resolve them through argumentation and voting.   The failing Duma keeps Russia out of the EU which keeps NATO alive.

Should an aspiring Czar appear, Russia needs a strong constitution demanding every soldier, “Kill the Czar.”

What ultimately caused the war?   You know the fable "The Emperor Wears No Clothes".   The Emperor speaks only to his aides who tell him only what he already dreams.   That describes Putin and perhaps Xi.

Who blocked the Russian Youtube and why?

We can only guess.
  1. Somebody at Youtube thought all Russian media should be blocked.
  2. NSA instructed Youtube to block all Russian video.
  3. Someone at NSA or at Youtube was embarrassed by Joe Biden snubbing Vladimir Putin resulting in the ensuing war.
  4. Your ideas?

Thanks

My friends Clement and Paula have found for me the video above, the language, and its translation that you see here, and the US News, Reuters, and ABC-TV-Youtube links.

More valuable Russian Youtubes blocked

Maria Butina defends herself.   An idealistic young Russian woman, jailed in US, tells her side of the story.