"Ke nānā nei nā alakaʻi ʻoihana ma ka honua holoʻokoʻa i ke kūkulu ʻia ʻana o nā pūʻali Lūkini a me nā mea hana ma ka palena ʻo Ukrainian me ka hopohopo nui. He hakakā ʻino kēia no nā makahiki he nui, me ka hoʻoulu ʻana i kekahi manawa, e like me ka hoʻohui kānāwai ʻole o Crimea e Russia ma 2014.

"Akā, ʻaʻole i loaʻa i nā makahiki i hala aku nei ka pilikia nui o ke kaua holoʻokoʻa ma ka ʻāina ʻEulopa - he kaua e like me nā mea ma mua, ʻaʻole i lawelawe i kahi pahuhopu kūpono a kūpono paha. (He mea paʻakikī i kekahi o mākou ke hūnā i ko mākou huhū i kēia manawa. I ka makahiki 2022, he aha ka honua e hana nei kekahi ʻāina e hōʻiliʻili i nā kaʻa ma nā palena o kekahi ʻāina?)

"Ua hoʻohana au i ka hapa nui o koʻu ola makua e hui kūʻē i ka mea aʻu i manaʻo ai he mau kaua pono ʻole o ko mākou manawa. I Malaki 1968, ua hui au i ʻumi tausani o ka poʻe ʻōpio ma Lākana ʻo Trafalgar Square e hōʻike kūʻē ana i ke Kaua Vietnam, kahi hakakā e piʻi wikiwiki ana i make i nā ola he nui ʻole, hoʻopaʻa i nā haneli haneli o nā keiki a me nā pākeke, a ua pau i kahi pio hoʻohaʻahaʻa no ka US a kona mau hoa pili. 35 mau makahiki ma hope mai, aia wau i waena o nā miliona o ka honua holoʻokoʻa i hele i ke alanui e kūʻē i ka hoʻouka kaua ʻana iā Iraq, kahi hana hawkish a me ka noʻonoʻo ʻole i hoʻopau i ka Middle East a hoʻemi i ka palekana o ka honua.

"ʻEwalu makahiki aku nei," wahi a Mr. Branson, "i ka manawa i ʻike nui ʻia ai ka manaʻo o Putin ma Ukraine i ke koena o ka honua, ua hoʻomaka mākou i kahi hoʻoikaika e hoʻoneʻe i nā alakaʻi ʻoihana Lūkini a me Ukrainian e lilo i poʻe kākoʻo no ka hoʻoholo maluhia ma waena o ko lākou mau ʻāina. Ke hoʻomanaʻo nei au i ka nui o nā hālāwai a me nā kelepona me nā alakaʻi a me nā poʻe loea i ka politika a me ka ʻoihana, a ua hoʻomohala mākou i kahi ʻike maikaʻi loa o ka mana ikaika e hoʻoulu nei i kēia hakakā. Ua aʻo koke mākou ʻaʻole makemake kekahi o kā mākou hui Lūkini, ʻoiai e kūʻē kūʻē i ke komo ʻana o ka pūʻali koa o Rūsia, e hoʻokiʻekiʻe i ko lākou leo i mua o ka lehulehu. Ua hoʻopuka mākou i kahi ʻōlelo ʻoihana e hauʻoli ana nā alakaʻi ʻoihana o ke Komohana a me Ukrainian e kau inoa, akā ʻaʻole mākou i loaʻa i hoʻokahi pūlima Lūkini no ka mea ʻoi loa ko lākou hopohopo i ka hoʻopaʻi ʻana mai ke aupuni ma Moscow.

"I kēlā manawa a i kēia manawa, akā naʻe, ua lokahi ka poʻe aʻu i kamaʻilio ai i ko lākou manaʻo e loaʻa i kēlā me kēia kaua ma waena o Russia a me Ukraine nā hopena pōʻino a weliweli. No ka hoʻomaka ʻana, e hoʻokaʻawale hou ʻo ia iā Rūsia a me kāna pelekikena mai ke koena o ka honua a hoʻopau i ka ʻoihana Lūkini. A ʻo ka mea ʻoiaʻiʻo, e hōʻeha nui ia a me ka ʻeha i ka poʻe ʻōpio a me nā ʻelemakule e hoʻāʻo nei e noho maluhia ma kēlā me kēia ʻaoʻao o ka palena. E like me ka manawa pinepine, ʻo ka poʻe kīwila ka mea e hoʻokau i ka ʻeha o ka huhū. ʻO ke kaua kīwila koko o Suria, kahi e pāʻani nei nā pūʻali koa Lūkini a me nā mercenary i kahi hana weliweli, he mea hoʻomanaʻo nui ia i ka mea e pili ana.

Ua ʻōlelo hou ʻo Mr. Branson, "ʻAʻole kēia he hakakā e hiki ke lanakila ʻo Pelekikena Putin i ka wā lōʻihi. ʻOiai ʻaʻole ʻo ia e mālama iki i ka manaʻo o ka honua i kāna mau makemake geopolitical, pono ʻo ia e mālama nui i ka mea e hiki mai ana no kona ʻāina ponoʻī. I kekahi manawa, e hoʻomaopopo ka poʻe Lūkini maʻamau he pono lākou i ka maikaʻi, ʻoiai inā hiki ke kūlana i kahi i hiki ʻole ai ke kipi ʻole o Ukrainians e pale ana i ko lākou mau home, nā kauhale a me nā kūlanakauhale e hoʻihoʻi mai i ka hiʻohiʻona weliweli o ka hāʻule ʻana o ka Soviet ma Afghanistan a me kāna mau make make. ma nā keiki kāne Lūkini, nā kaikunāne a me nā makuakāne.

"No nā alakaʻi ʻoihana, ʻo kēia ka manawa e hui pū ai a kū i luna no ka mana aupuni o Ukraine. ʻOiai inā he kumukūʻai, pono mākou a pau e hoʻouna i kahi ʻōlelo maopopo ʻaʻole e ʻae ʻia ka hakakā unilateral a e kākoʻo ke kaiāulu ʻoihana honua i ka piha o nā hoʻopaʻi kūʻē i kekahi lāhui e ʻimi nei e uhaki i ka mana o kekahi. "

He aha e lawe ʻia mai kēia ʻatikala:

In March 1968, I joined tens of thousands of young people at London’s Trafalgar Square demonstrating against the Vietnam War, a rapidly escalating conflict that cost countless lives, crippled hundreds of thousands of children and adults, and ended in a humiliating defeat for the US and its allies.
Even if it comes at a price, all of us should send a clear message that unilateral aggression is always unacceptable and that the global business community will support the full range of sanctions against any nation that seeks to violate the sovereignty of another.
At some point, ordinary Russians will come to realise that they deserve better, especially if the situation reaches a point where the inevitable insurgency of Ukrainians defending their homes, villages and towns brings back the haunting spectre of the Soviet failure in Afghanistan and its deadly toll on Russian sons, brothers and fathers.