What Does It Mean To Be “Pro-Putin”?

A couple of days ago, I published an article on what it meant to engage in “appeasement” in the context of the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict. In it, I made it clear that I was using “appeasement” as an entirely neutral term, and I dislike the fact that the term has become so loaded.

I mention this because claims of “appeasement” are commonly meant with another term, “pro-Putin.” Similar to the word “appeasement,” this is a term many people misunderstand — especially those who are engaging in it.

During the recent National Conservatism conference in Brussels, Yoram Hazony attacked people who thought he and his buddies were “pro-Putin,” citing the fact that multiple speakers have been banned from their conference for supporting Putin in the past. I have never heard of such a controversy, but I’ll give Hazony the benefit of the doubt that this has happened. Instead, I want to note what Hazony said after that — as quoted by Rod Dreher of The American Conservative:

We’re pro-Putin because we want peace instead of war? How can that be?

Well, it depends on what your “peace” would look like. If your peace involves Russia withdrawing from Ukraine and allowing Ukraine to chart its own path forward, that would not be a pro-Putin opinion. However, if your peace involves Russia getting its way in a blind — and, in my…