Ukraine is angry with Russia. It’s not just the war that makes them angry. It transpires that through all the fighting till now, Russia continues to transit its supplies of natural gas through Ukraine to countries in Europe. Russia has now been cutting back on these supplies and Ukraine is upset because this means less revenues and profits. They want Russia to continue to maintain their previous level of supplies. And let’s not forget that Ukraine also buys Russian gas for its domestic consumption. Commercial dealings with the enemy?

If you were charitable, you could call this the irony of intertwined national economies in a globalised era. But let us not forget the hypocrisy in all this.

One may forgive the on-going business if they were private companies engaged in trade while their states were at war. But both Naftogaz, the Ukrainian company dealing with Gazprom, the Russian company, are state owned!

Governments today are full of such contradictions. Even while Ukraine buys and allows transit of Russian gas, the US sent several officials to India to advise Indians to stop buying Russian oil. Global media joined in with opinion columns decrying India for not falling in line with Western efforts to isolate Russia in its war with Ukraine. India was not to be trusted, they said, and may cause the collapse of the Quad security relationship also involving the US, Japan and Australia. And all the while, as a recent report in the Wall Street Journal describes, Ukraine and western European nations were continuing to use Russian gas!

Deathly embrace

Russia and Ukraine are in a deathly embrace. Naftogaz’s profits from the transit fees from Russia goes towards taxes and dividends to the Ukrainian government to fight Russia. Russia, supplying Europe with gas through Ukraine needs the money to fund the war with Ukraine. Am I losing my mind?

Everyone says give us some time to lessen the irony. Europe is trying to find alternative sources of gas. Naftogaz will try to find alternative sources of revenue. Russia is finding alternative customers. The US, being accommodative, is granting exemptions from its sanctions on Russia to allow for energy sales to take place while everyone finds alternatives. Meanwhile, the advice from the US to all countries is not to do business with Russia. More irony.

Perhaps Putin learned the strategy of acquiring nations in a westward move from a careful reading of US history. The US federal government ruthlessly managed its westward movement towards the Pacific Ocean acquiring territories by defeating indigenous nations at wars and grabbing their lands. In just one such case, the government abrogated its own Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 to take over Sioux lands. In a case in 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Sioux were entitled to monetary compensation for the illegal seizure of their land. The Sioux have refused the money for they want their land back.

Thus, it may be easier to understand Putin as just that part of us that we try to keep hidden.

And did you read about the possibility that the US will lift some of its tariffs imposed on China? The justification given at the time the tariffs were imposed was that China was stealing US technology, manipulating its currency, not allowing American companies a level-playing field, and doing other naughty things. Now, the justification for lifting the tariffs is that inflation is high and US consumers need cheap imports from China. No word on whether the US now believes that China has set right its wrongs. More irony or hypocrisy?

Maybe we should just change the channel.

The writer is an emeritus professor at Suffolk University, Boston

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