Yabloko founder on the seven steps to end the war

Press Release, 4.11.2022

“The tools of hatred deprive you of a meaningful approach, they deprive you of intellectual advancement, deprive you of the opportunity to intellectually resolve the issue. Hatred is beyond comprehension, it is an emotion. When you are in such emotions [of hatred], you run the risk of making very wrong decisions. Hatred does not allow for competent policies, or any serious policies. This is a very difficult, very painful, tragic circumstance. Sometimes, in my opinion, hatred is justified, but it still needs to be pushed aside.”

Yabloko founder Grigory Yavlinsky, in his interview to Nikolai Solodnikov, answers questions about whether hatred can help in the solution of problems, what will happen to Russia further, and what he personally would do if he got the power.

Yavlinsky proposes seven points to end the war: a ceasefire, exchange of prisoners basing on the all for all principle, creation of an international humanitarian mission to protect the civilian population in the territories that are passing from one side to another, investigation of war crimes, solution of the problems of healthcare and provision of food, and search for mediators.

According to Grigory Yavlinsky, “disappearance of culture and faith from politics has led to the political situation in which the entire world is at present, rather than Russia and Eastern Europe only, this is already such an extreme, not yet final, but still… The response to this [challenge], in professional language, sounds like this: institutionalisation of values. That is, what world culture brings, and what the world religions bring, and everything that is connected with a person, his/her freedom, life, dignity, culture, and national culture – all this must be institutionalised, i.e. turned into political institutions. That is, it should be the filling of all state institutions. This is the imperative of the time, it cannot be avoided.”

Watch the video on Youtube.