“Go to Ukraine and enlist in their army”: Hermanis' response to Trump’s “peace plan” 0 6

Director Alvis Hermanis has expressed his opinion, which differs significantly from that of many others. Hermanis' post on the social network X sparked an immediate and intense reaction. The director stated that he views Trump's plan as an alternative to further escalation.

"The alternative to Trump's plan is to bomb Moscow, and then we will see what happens," he wrote, comparing the current situation to another crisis. "When the Berlin Wall appeared in 1961, and tanks from the USA and the USSR faced each other at Checkpoint Charlie, the alternative was to start a major war." Hermanis also insists that the historical process will eventually lead to a change in the status of the occupied territories.

"Thirty years have passed, the historical context has changed, and the Berlin Wall fell. The same will happen with Crimea when the time comes," he claims. "Right now, the situation is what it is. The Ukrainian side is running out of soldiers, and our war enthusiasts who shout about war and encourage others are not in a hurry to go help; they just continue to finance and trade with Putin and, of course, strictly condemn something that they have already forgotten about."

But the most outrage was caused by a passage addressed to critics.

Considering the support for the war from armchair commentators as hypocrisy, Hermanis wrote: "If you do not support Trump’s peace plan, then go to Ukraine tomorrow and enlist in their army. Calling others to war and death would be too hypocritical and evil."

This phrase instantly went viral and triggered a flood of comments. It was seen as an attempt to silence the discussion and shift the responsibility onto those who oppose the plan, which Ukraine's Western partners describe as "unjust," "dangerous," and one that "legitimizes aggression."

Hermanis himself considers the document controversial but supposedly beneficial in the long term. According to him, even in the case of formal concessions to Russia, the price for them will be moral:

"From now on, Russians will walk around with the stamp of Bucha on their foreheads and feel in civilized society like a homeless person smelling of feces feels on a tram, while everyone politely smiles, but everyone understands."

In Hermanis' opinion, Europeans should wait: "For now, let the Russians clean up the mess they made in the Donbas at their own expense and give Europe time to get rid of the soft politicians who sincerely believe that Americans are obliged to take care of their security."