logoalt Hacker News

EGreg • yesterday at 8:24 PM • 2 replies • view on HN

This is the same sort of timeline argument Noam Chomsky gave me regarding why he thinks that Zelensky stopped negotiating with Russia after Boris Johnson’s visit. After the firefights in Bucha he was still saying they’ll have to make a deal, then Johnson arrived and said Putin is not a man to make deals with. And then Zelensky stopped saying it. I asked Chomsky about this explicitly (whether the discovery of bodies shot point blank in the aftermath of the Russian withdrawal from Bucha was the decisive factor) and he pointed to the timeline. I don’t know if I fully buy that argument:

https://youtu.be/_BypvatagNQ?si=1CDGUZKSd6r3jz_n


Replies

nostrademons • yesterday at 8:32 PM

Would love to hear more about this - is there a timestamp within the video where the relevant discussion is? Other sources? Ukraine shifted pretty dramatically to offensive operations within Russia in late-2025/early-2026 and I'm curious why.

➕ show 1 reply
varjag • yesterday at 9:45 PM

Chomsky has pretty terrible track record on ascribing motivations in the conflict, going back to Khmer Rouge. Should have really stuck to formal languages.