Russia is expanding its military infrastructure near the border with Finland, in what NATO officials describe as the early stages of a long-term buildup, The New York Times reported Monday.
I don’t disagree that they should have responded when Crimea was invaded, a decade ago, or Georgia 15 or 20 years ago.
I think Ukraine deserved protection based on those agreements, which were made with world interest at heart.
The crux of the matter is that the USA can’t be trusted to uphold any agreement with Trump at the helm. The UK is providing assistance but insufficient on their own.
Ukraine is not part of NATO, so there was not the same clear line of action and response.
Whether Russia was bark or bite is irrelevant when you send your own citizens to die in a war, protecting a different country. You need the political will and popular will to do that.
Those red lines Moscow made have incrementally dropped, without escalation outside ukrainez which sucks for Ukraine but is what the other allies would want, short of peace.
Putin is a violent demagogue and the only response is to destabilise him, which means being the war and sanctions to all Russians so that he doesn’t have the political will not support to continue.
Appeasing him by allowing Crimea to be annexed will only mean he tries again there, or somewhere else in the future.
I don’t disagree that they should have responded when Crimea was invaded, a decade ago, or Georgia 15 or 20 years ago.
I think Ukraine deserved protection based on those agreements, which were made with world interest at heart.
The crux of the matter is that the USA can’t be trusted to uphold any agreement with Trump at the helm. The UK is providing assistance but insufficient on their own.
Ukraine is not part of NATO, so there was not the same clear line of action and response.
Whether Russia was bark or bite is irrelevant when you send your own citizens to die in a war, protecting a different country. You need the political will and popular will to do that.
Those red lines Moscow made have incrementally dropped, without escalation outside ukrainez which sucks for Ukraine but is what the other allies would want, short of peace.
Putin is a violent demagogue and the only response is to destabilise him, which means being the war and sanctions to all Russians so that he doesn’t have the political will not support to continue.
Appeasing him by allowing Crimea to be annexed will only mean he tries again there, or somewhere else in the future.