Der Spiegel interview with Henry Kissinger

Also: BBC as megaphone for Russian war propaganda

Part One: Der Spiegel interview with Henry Kissinger

Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger made a lot of news in May when he made a statement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland calling for Ukraine to enter negotiations with Russia aimed at returning to the status quo ante existing before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, and for Ukraine’s allies to pressure Kyiv to adopt this position,¹

Kissinger’s statement was widely interpreted as his calling for territorial concessions in exchange for peace,

Now, in a recent interview Kissinger has clarified his position regarding what he meant by a return to the status quo ante.²

In an interview in Der Spiegel published in English on July 15, Kissinger expanded on his statement in Davos in May 2022, which was widely interpreted as his endorsing the making of territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for a ceasefire.

Kissinger stated:

To end this war, the best dividing line would be the status quo ante, which means 93 percent of the country. That’s quite a different thing. If one identifies the status quo ante as the objective, that would mean that aggression has not succeeded. The issue, then, is a ceasefire along the February 24 line of contact. The territory still controlled by Russia, which makes up about 2.5 percent of Ukrainian territory in the Donbas as well as the Crimean Peninsula, would then be part of a general negotiation.

He had not suggested Ukraine give up its territory, he asserted:

DER SPIEGEL: You added, however, that pursuing the conflict beyond the February 24 line of contact “would turn it into a war not about the freedom of Ukraine … but a new war against Russia itself.”

Kissinger: At no point did I say that Ukraine should give up any territory. I said the logical dividing line for a ceasefire is the status quo ante.

Whatever might have been a fair interpretation of what he said in May at Davos, his clarification is welcome.

Part Two: BBC as megaphone for Russian propaganda

It is striking to see the BBC broadcasting portions of an interview on Russian TV with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov as he spouts the latest Russian propaganda. Today Putin’s propaganda, conveyed through Lavrov and rebroadcast on the BBC, was that if the West continued to supply long-range artillery to Ukraine Russia would strike targets in areas of the country beyond the Donbas. As if they haven’t been doing that all along.

It was precisely like the case of a terrorist who, having killed 20 people, threatens to kill 20 more if you try to do anything to stop him.

Lavrov repeated Putin’s warning about crossing his “red lines” by allowing or enabling Kyiv to strike targets inside Russian territory.

Lavrov’s comments channeling Putin do not merit analysis, but rather only recognition and labeling as blatant war propaganda.

The substance of the remarks reveal Putin to be as evil and cunning as ever, with an incredible ability to discern the weakest points in the positions of his enemies.

But the big question here is why the BBC is rebroadcasting a Russian television interview with Lavrov and acting as a megaphone for him to spread Putin’s war propaganda.

Is there no one at the BBC who can distinguish between news and war propaganda?

The BBC should simply ignore everything said by anyone in the service of Vladimir Putin and Russia’s murderous war of aggression against Ukraine and Ukrainian civilians.

Should the BBC broadcast an interview with Putin?

It would be terrific for the ratings. Everyone would watch.

But it would be absolutely the wrong thing to do.

During World War II, should the BBC have interviewed propaganda minister Josef Goebbels or even Adolf Hitler himself?

Absolutely not. The same principle should apply to Putin and his henchmen, whether Sergey Lavrov or his personal spokesman, Dimitry Peskov.

The principles to defend here are clear.

Don’t broadcast or amplify Russian war propaganda.

Don’t rebroadcast interviews with war criminals with the blood on their hands of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, and of innocent soldiers who are only defending their country.

1. “Kissinger advocates giving Putin territory in exchange for “peace” in Ukraine,” Trenchant Observations, May 26, 2022.

2. See,

1) Bernhard Zand, (New York), “Hilft jetzt nur Realpolitik, Henry Kissinger?; Als er auf die Welt kam, lebte Lenin noch, im Kalten Krieg war Henry Kissinger US-Außenminister. Nun warnt der 99-Jährige vor einem Atomkrieg im Nahen Osten. Kremlchef Putin hält er für berechnend und nachtragend, Interview, Der Spiegel, den 17. Juli 2022 (10.55 Uhr);

2) Bernhard Zand, “Interview with Henry Kissinger: ‘There Is No Good Historical Example’ for War in Ukraine; Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, 99, experienced several Soviet leaders during his career in politics. Now, he says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is both calculated and resentful. And that Russia’s future relationship with Europe will become a key geostrategic question,” Der Spiegel in English, July 15, 2022 (14.51 Uhr);

(3) “Ukraine War, July 20, 2022: Der Spiegel interview with Henry Kissinger; BBC rebroadcasts Russian war propaganda in form of Lavrov interview with Russian television, The Trenchant Observer, July 20, 2022.; “Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with RT television,” Sputnik agency and Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, Moscow, July 20, 2022 (15:20).