I joined Pakistan’s PTV World on Monday to analyze the latest on Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, beginning with questions about Ukraine-Russia negotiations and continuing with discussion of Russian tactics including the siege, shelling, and killing of civilians.

The interview is also a case study in information v. disinformation, with Daria Platonova from Moscow setting out the Kremlin’s lines.

I cut through the false claims with the facts about Russian attacks, and with a discussion of Ukraine’s political and military situation with the Pakistani panel of interviewers.

At one point, Platonova tries to cover up Russia’s shelling of civilians in besieged Mariupol, including in a hospital and a theater, with the disinformation that the sites were actually attacked by Ukrainian forces trained by the US.

To which I respond, “Please stop lying. Please, just don’t lie.”

We also discuss whether the international community, having failed to protect civilians in cases such as Russia’s mass killing in Chechnya and — alongside the Assad regime — in Syria, will finally meet the challenge in Ukraine.

Ukraine is different. Belatedly the international community is providing some assistance to those who are being attacked, and it has pursued sanctions against Russia — sanctions that will, regrettably, imposed costs on the Russian people because that is the only way to check Vladimir Putin’s war.

And we look at how Vladimir Putin may have sacrificed his approach of a bloc — including countries such as China, Pakistan, and Turkey — with his invasion.

This is not an East v. West question. This is not a US v. Russia question. This is a question of whether you protect the rights and civilians, or whether you are seen to side with the aggressor.