I would like to start with the words of someone I respect very much. I used to brief him every other morning when he was Secretary of State: George P. Shultz. Let me just read you what Secretary Shultz said, when he reached the ripe old age of 100:
Now in my hundredth year, I offer my thoughts about what I have come to believe is crucial; namely, trust. We all know that good relations thrive when neighbors trust one another, and that life can become miserable if trust is replaced with suspicion and doubt. Trust is just as critical in determining whether cooperation or conflict —or even war or peace—will dominate relations between nations.
He said that just before he died in November 2020.
I mentioned that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in 2008:
Look, Nyet means Nyet. You allow Ukraine into NATO, that is a red line for us. We will probably have to invade. There will be civil war there. Don’t do it! Nyet means Nyet.
How do we know that? We have the embassy cable from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, and if I’ve seen one of those cables, I’ve seen about 405,000 of them, and they’re genuine. And
— source larouchepub.com | Ray McGovern | Jan 20, 2023