April 19, 2022 - 3:19pm

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Western media has been near unanimous in its support for President Zelensky’s resistance and condemnation of Putin’s invasion. Intervention from the US and Europe has now extended to supplying arms and sanctioning Russia. Some are demanding this support goes even further, suggesting ‘no fly zones’ or even boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Journalist, Substacker and Twitter provocateur Michael Tracey takes a very different view. Despite initially condemning the invasion in February, he has since committed his time to exposing what he calls the ‘proxy warmongering’ of Western powers. The reluctance of the US and Europe to enter into a negotiation with Putin is the opposite of peacekeeping, Tracey argues. He sees his duty as an American reporter to scrutinize his country’s role in the protracted conflict. For this, Tracey has been accused of taking the Kremlin’s line. So when does being anti-war start being seen as pro-Putin?

Michael Tracey joins Freddie Sayers in the UnHerd studio to discuss why he is so critical of Western intervention in Ukraine and why he refuses to be labelled a Putin apologist.

You can read Tracey’s most recent Substack post, ‘The UK is Trying to Drag the US into World War III’, here.