Time to take stock, and for Ukraine’s supporters to make a greater concerted effort to end Russia’s barbaric war against an independent, democratic, European state.
Four years ago this week, on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion, expecting Kyiv to fall within days and sovereign Ukraine to disappear within weeks.
He had begun his military aggression against Ukraine back in 2014 when his unidentified “green men” seized Crimea and plunged the Donbas into a bloodbath.
He was confident Russia’s might and the West’s hesitation would allow him to get away with his criminal goals.
He was wrong.
Ukraine still stands. Its flag flies over Kyiv. Its military fights on. Its people endure, remaining defiant and hopeful.
The cost has been brutal. Tens of thousands of soldiers are dead. Thousands of civilians killed. Millions displaced. Cities reduced to rubble. Some 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory occupied by the Russian invaders.
Yet Ukraine has not broken.
Whatever his domestic shortcomings, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has provided the necessary wartime leadership and become a Churchillian figure on the international scene.
Ukraine’s armed forces have held the line against a larger enemy. Citizens have kept the country running through blackouts and air raids. Western military aid and financial support have been crucial.
But US President Donald Trump’s approach has created grave uncertainty about his country’s commitment. Europe has stepped up instead. Britain, France, Germany, Poland, the Nordics, the Baltics, and Canada – a Coalition of the Willing – are filling the void.
If you ask Ukrainians what they want to tell the world, the answer will be — instead of sympathy, we need action.
Russia has paid a staggering price. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers killed or wounded. Its economy buckling under war costs and sanctions. Internationally disgraced and isolated, Moscow depends on China, North Korea, and Iran for survival.
Western support has been vital, but it hasn’t reached decisive levels. Ukraine needs more – not just to survive, but to force Russia to the table on terms that respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Talk of peace negotiations is hollow without real pressure. Putin won’t negotiate in good faith. He respects only force. Appeasement has never worked with Moscow, and it won’t work now. Every delay, every half-measure, and every attempt to accommodate the Kremlin only emboldens further aggression.
Remember, this is not a neighborhood dispute. This is a genocidal war against Ukraine and a direct threat to Europe and the free world. If aggression succeeds here, autocrats worldwide will take note.
The West must act. Expand sanctions. Increase military aid. Isolate Moscow completely. Guarantee Ukraine’s future in a democratic Europe with a clear path to EU and NATO membership. Pressure Russia to retreat – not merely hope it will.
This is a struggle between authoritarianism and freedom, old-style imperialism and national self-determination.
Four years ago, Putin sought to erase Ukraine. Instead, he forged a nation more united than ever. That is his failure – and Ukraine’s strength.
Putin has also woken Europe up to realities, and even as the US steps back and its leadership appeases the Kremlin, Ukraine has been reassured that it will not be abandoned and left to fend for itself.
There is no more time to waste!
Kyiv Post
