Stop Dithering on Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reached a grim point, thanks to Western dithering. After four months of horrific bloodshed, Russia is within days of complete control of Luhansk, the northeastern part of the Donbas region, despite fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces.
It didn’t have to go that way: President Biden and Western leaders did little as Vladimir Putin amassed troops on Ukraine’s border, his intentions unmistakable. Even after Russia’s attack in February, they were unforgivably slow in getting Ukraine the weapons needed.
Indeed, the long-range artillery the West promised is still barely trickling in, even as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded last week that his troops are badly outgunned. That’s let Russia gobble up Luhansk, town by city by town — and leaves it free to move on from there.
Putin’s goal: take all of Ukraine’s east and the coast along the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, all the way to Odessa. He might go back to Plan A: complete conquest of the country.
That would be catastrophic, not just for the thousands of innocents Putin’s slaughtering along the way, but also for the West. As Russian emigre Garry Kasparov, head of the Renew Democracy Initiative, writes: “Ukraine is the frontline now, but if Mr. Putin succeeds, he won’t stop there. A direct confrontation with North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces will become inevitable.”
The good news: Russia’s so far made little progress in Donetsk, the southern part of the Donbas. And Zelensky insists his forces can stave off disaster if they get the right weapons and training fast enough. But they’re now running out of everything, even bullets.
Biden and other Western leaders can — and must — speed up delivery of vital weapons and equipment to Ukraine. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week urged precisely that, warning: Ukraine “is facing a pivotal moment on the battlefield.”
Right. The West must pull out all the stops to help repel the Russian onslaught now. Not only for Ukraine’s sake — but its own.