Despite this, Western leaders portrayed the war as a battle between good and evil, with significant implications for democracy. They presented it as a struggle not just for territory but between liberal and autocratic values, with global implications. If so, why limit what is supplied? Why withhold long-range munitions and tanks? Why delay providing F-16s or prevent Ukraine from using Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia?
Ukraine’s former top commander Gen. Valery Zaluzhny expressed frustration in the Washington Post, questioning why he needed permission to act on enemy territory to save his people.
Former Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized the West for not fully understanding the war’s importance or consequences. “You cannot win a war where Russia knows its strategic goal in detail; Ukraine knows its goal; but the West, without whom Ukraine cannot win, does not know what it is fighting for,” he told POLITICO. “This is the real tragedy of this war.”
Negotiations have sometimes been farcical, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio retracting the original peace plan, claiming it was from Russia, not the Trump administration, only to reverse his stance. (Martial Trezzini/EPA)
The 19-point plan currently discussed is an improvement on the original 28-point plan but is inadequate and disgraceful. This is the result of reducing military forces and arms production for decades, failing to draw enforceable red lines, and not asking tough questions before making grand promises.
Such a poor deal for Ukraine, leaving it with weak security guarantees, missing 20 percent of its territory, and prohibiting NATO membership, will have severe domestic repercussions and likely lead to civil strife. The army and its veterans might view it as a betrayal, warranting punishment.
It would reward Putin’s behavior without accountability for his army’s atrocious actions or the illegal deportations from Ukraine to Russia, emboldening the autocratic axis.
The American Revolution had lasting global consequences, as will this war.
Leave a Reply