Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion and expert on Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday urged the US and other world powers to walk away from the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna to protest Russia’s war against Ukraine.
As part of a new Twitter thread on how to isolate Putin and dissolve his regime in Moscow, Kasparov wrote “Defend Ukraine, which is paying a price in blood for the complacency and corruption of the free world that is watching them die. Boycott Russian oil and leave every table with Russia, from Iran deals to green deals. Cut Putin off so there is no way back with him.”
Mobilize. Defend Ukraine, which is paying a price in blood for the complacency and corruption of the free world that is watching them die. Boycott Russian oil and leave every table with Russia, from Iran deals to green deals. Cut Putin off so there is no way back with him.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 1, 2022
The Jerusalem Post reported last week on Kasparov’s plan to defeat Putin. He recommended that the international community “support Ukraine militarily; bankrupt Putin's war machine; freeze and seize Russia's finances; and kick Russia out of every financial institution.”
To the astonishment of many critics of Putin and Iran’s regime, the US government announced that it will continue to negotiate alongside Russia in Vienna to curb Tehran’s drive to become a nuclear power in exchange for economic sanctions relief.
Russian and the Islamic Republic of Iran are allied with the regime in Syria where President Bashar Assad's war against a revolt has caused the deaths of over 500,000 people.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi greenlighted Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The removal of sanctions on Iran's regime is a goal of Putin because it permits him to sell weapons to the theological regime in Tehran.
Kasparov is a ubiquitous presence in the media because, among other reasons, he was able to jump into the future in 2015 and predict Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the Russian strongman’s imperial aims. The chess grandmaster’s Twitter feed has been one of the go-to micro-blogs for instant analysis on Putin’s war in Ukraine, with each new Kasparov tweet going viral.
Kasparov outlined Putin’s jingoistic goals in his 2015 book titled Winter is Coming.
Kasparov wrote on Twitter that “Putin already started the war and he will keep escalating until he is stopped. ‘Close the sky’ & ensure Russian commanders know their lives are at stake for following Putin's orders.”
This plea coincides with Russian escalation against civilians in Ukraine. Putin already started the war and he will keep escalating until he is stopped. "Close the sky" & ensure Russian commanders know their lives are at stake for following Putin's orders. https://t.co/3hYaO6MR1D
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 1, 2022
He continued that "Putin is one man. His mad designs require thousands, millions of people to carry them out. They should all know there is no way back for them if they continue, that their lives are over. Yes, this requires sacrifice and risk, but it will only grow the longer we delay.”
Putin is one man. His mad designs require thousands, millions of people to carry them out. They should all know there is no way back for them if they continue, that their lives are over. Yes this requires sacrifice and risk, but it will only grow the longer we delay.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 1, 2022
In response to US President Joe Biden’s state of the union speech on Tuesday, Kasparov tweeted that “Glad Biden started w[ith] Ukraine and his words were fine, if brief considering the stakes. It’s his actions that have lagged, both in targeting the oligarchs and supporting Ukraine. Ukraine doesn’t have time and Putin is escalating by the hour.”
My worry is that Putin doesn’t believe Biden. After a summit and a couple of calls, Putin clearly doesn’t think Biden is a serious threat. He thought the same about Europe, and is being proved wrong. I hope Biden does it too, but it remains to be seen.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 2, 2022
He added that “My worry is that Putin doesn’t believe Biden. After a summit and a couple of calls, Putin clearly doesn’t think Biden is a serious threat. He thought the same about Europe, and is being proved wrong. I hope Biden does it too, but it remains to be seen.
Putin declared war on the US and the world order it represents long ago. Ukraine is the military target of that war now, but election interference, hacking, disinformation, etc are still warfare. US sacrifice & commitment are necessary and Biden should communicate that.”
Kasparov said "The appeasers have carried the day since Putin invaded Ukraine... Are we safer now? The danger will be even greater should Putin be allowed to commit genocide in Ukraine and then look for his next target. The price only goes up.”
He told the journalist Megyn Kelly on her Podcast “Let's not deceive ourselves, this is already World War III...Vladimir Putin is attacking the very foundation of the world..."
“Let’s not deceive ourselves, this is already World War III...Vladimir Putin is attacking the very foundation of the world..."On Putin's madness and "World War III," with Garry @Kasparov63. Watch and download: https://t.co/QheIr7wnM2https://t.co/EcTFsHuKo2
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) March 1, 2022
Kasparov, who also oversees the Human Rights Foundation, wrote "Dictators never stop. They are stopped.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Putin bombing civilians in Ukraine today was inevitable. Trying to explain it like a mystery is like trying to explain why the scorpion stings the frog in the old Persian fable. It is his nature.”
He said, “I don't know why some pundits sound so sure what will or won't cause Putin to escalate when he attacked Ukraine for no real reason at all. Why does the invading dictator get to set NATO policy?”
“But I can only write and talk. Biden can and must act,” wrote Kasparov.
Separately, Natan Sharansky, a former Israeli politician, said about Russia’s war and its attack on the Babyn Yar memorial for the Holocaust that “We, at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, built on Europe’s largest mass grave of the Holocaust, work to preserve historical memory following decades of Soviet suppression of historical truth, so that the evils of the past can never be repeated. We must not allow the truth to – once again – become the victim of war.”
Sharansky is chairman of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy.