To provide some context as to why we are in the current situation. It was no surprise that Putin would eventually invade again if the US and NATO continued to ignore their red line. We could have had a diplomatic solution but chose not to. Better to jaw, jaw, jaw, than war, war, war.
And our actions after Russia invaded the second time were not thought out. We are now in a new Cold War and our response sparked a global political realignment that is not in our long term interests. As Robert Gates said of Biden, "I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” We have a corrupt, compromised President along with fools and knaves who are leading us off a cliff. I am very concerned that they will come up with some false flag event to get us directly involved in Ukraine on the ground before the 2024 election.
The Russians invaded the whole country of Ukraine, and they can stop. They can offer up a independent vote of the “returned” Oblasts. But none of this had to become a war that is now in stalemate. And this stalemate is not beneficial to them or Ukraine.
They invaded in 2014 after the coup. They invaded this time after they laid down the red line to Stoltenberg in the autumn of 2021. The red line should have triggered an immediate diplomatic response to head off the second invasion.
While Russian troops were massing on Ukraine's borders prior to the February 2022 second invasion, Blinken signed on November 10, 2021 the U.S.-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership Among other things the US was committed to:
The United States and Ukraine endorse the 2021 Strategic Defense Framework as the foundation of enhanced Ukraine-U.S. defense and security cooperation and intend to work to advance shared priorities, including implementing defense and defense industry reforms, deepening cooperation in areas such as Black Sea security, cyber defense, and intelligence sharing, and countering Russia’s aggression.
The United States remains committed to assisting Ukraine with ongoing defense and security reforms and to continuing its robust training and exercises. The United States supports Ukraine’s efforts to maximize its status as a NATO Enhanced Opportunities Partner to promote interoperability.
Not one fact was new to me. I know the context. Speaking of that, would Russia have done so if Trump was still president? Didn’t Biden approve it by saying, right before the Russians invaded, that a “little invasion” would be okay? Can you imagine Trump saying that? And in all the long years since the Soviets fell, Russia was also meddling in Ukraine. It is not so cut and dry. Who poisoned their President in 2004? Who armed the Donbas separatists in 2008? This pot has been boiling for a long while. But you are correct to say diplomacy is the better solution.
And what about the NATO role? Should NATO reject membership to countries because they’re close to Russia? As things stand, EVERY European country except Belarus and Ukraine are now part of it. It is too late to put that genie back in the bottle.
How do the Ukrainians, despised as they are, go forward? Do they surrender and hope for what’s best?
Our actions were not thought out well, nor in our best interests LONG before Russia’s 2022 attack. I do agree with Gates. We (Clinton, Bush and Obama) meddled in more than Ukraine. Yugoslavia... Rwanda, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria. And who can forget the so-called Arab Spring? Was Mubarak that bad to the Egyptian people or did American democrats have a role in stirring the pot? We sure did in Libya.
Trump was right on Afghanistan, but Biden absolutely f’d that up. The Abraham Accords was the right way to go, even if the Saudis killed a journalist. That got thrown out because of Biden, too.
But all of this is a moot point. ISIS is gone. Why are we still in Syria? Mubarak is dead, so is Gaddafi.
But war still rages in Ukraine.
We should rally together to stop it. I think your proposal for Trump to “get them together by withholding aid” is important but only one step. Would the Russians accept Donbas, permanent status on Crimea and withdraw from the rest?