“How can we revive the truth?” That is the question this journalist and one of the authors of “La Contra” (The Back Cover) from the newspaper La Vanguardia posed to students at UIC Barcelona. In a packed classroom, students, lecturers and staff from the University had the opportunity to learn a bit more about the truth of what is occurring in Ukraine. A round table moderated by Montserrat Nebrera, lecturer in Constitutional Law, and which, in addition to Amiguet, also featured Xavier Garí, historian and lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities, and Alfons Puga, a strategic energy consultant.
Following the introductions, lecturer Nebrera turned the floor over to Xavier Garí, who briefly summarised the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. “The current situation has been a long time in the making,” explained Garí. “It is the result of a series of events that have fuelled the conflict, and all it needed was someone with a thirst for power like Putin, who wants to restore the Soviet Union to its former power.”
“90% of the world’s conflicts,” added Alfons Puga, “are due to resources such as energy and minerals. And the war in Ukraine is no different. In fact, you can trace its origin back to 2017, when Russia shut off the gas supply to the neighbouring country, triggering a major crisis that did not, however, receive much attention.”
It became clear that, in order to discover the truth that Lluís Amiguet described, it is important to know the history. And, according to the speakers, this history sheds light on a serious conflict of interest, from both an economic and strategic standpoint. “Russia wanted to curtail Ukraine’s power because it had lots of unpaid gas and had built Gazprom 2, a gas pipeline project that was halted to prevent Putin’s country from gaining further power, and the United States wanted to sell what it produced through fracking. This naturally angered Russia, which began raising prices last July: in less than a year, the price has increased tenfold.”
“The problem here,” added lecturer Garí, “is that it seems that we only know how to resolve conflict through violence, and that never works. Wars mean big money: I wish it could all go to culture or education! That would really change things.” And to sum it up with one fact, he added that “over 50% of non-violent conflicts achieve their objectives, as opposed to less than 30% of violent conflicts.”
The round table discussion lasted just over an hour. And it would have lasted longer had lecturer Nebrera not introduced the event’s final question, in effort to stick to the allotted time. With his question, it is clear that the interviewer from “La Contra” struck at the heart of the matter. Perhaps the attendees left the room a little more reluctant to blindly accept the story of good versus bad. Perhaps the truth delves further into what is happening around us.
