‘There are no good Russians’ – VP of major EU party

A Ukrainian MP and vice president of the pan-European party ALDE has suggested that there are “no good Russians” after Kremlin critic Ilya Yashin encouraged Moscow and Kiev to negotiate a peace deal. 

Yashin was released from prison last week as part of a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West and was sent to Germany. He had previously been sentenced by a Moscow court to 8.5 years in 2022 and designated as a ‘foreign agent’ for spreading false information about the Russian military. 

In an interview on Sunday, Yashin argued that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had reached a dead end and that there is currently “no military solution for either side.” He insisted that there is nothing more important now than for Moscow and Kiev to stop the fighting and bloodshed and sit down at the negotiating table to “consider the positions of both sides.”  

In response, Kira Rudik, whose Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) party is one of the largest in the EU and advocates for increased European integration, stated in a post on X that she was “not surprised that Ilya Yashin is not calling for Russia to pull the troops, but for Ukraine and Russia to ‘negotiate.’”  

“This is the best showcase of what we have been telling you all along: there are no ‘good Russians,’” the politician wrote. 

Many in the comments under Rudik’s post pointed out how inappropriate it was for an EU congress member to discriminate against an entire group of people based on nationality. Some argued that if she had made similar comments about any other race or ethnicity she would have been disqualified from holding public office. 

Yashin, meanwhile, apparently changed his stance, stating on Monday that Ukraine must not surrender an inch of its land and warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will supposedly not be satisfied and will “go further.” 

Russia has repeatedly stressed that it remains open for dialogue with Ukraine so long as such talks are based on the “reality” on the ground. Moscow has also listed several issues that must first be addressed for any meaningful negotiations to be held with Kiev, including resolving the issue of Vladimir Zelensky’s legitimacy as the head of state. 

Earlier this summer, Putin also made a peace proposal to Ukraine, stating that Russia would be prepared to initiate a ceasefire and immediately launch peace talks if Ukraine formally committed to neutrality, abandoned its pursuit of NATO membership, and ceded its claims to all six former Ukrainian regions that chose to join Russia in 2014 and 2022.