Do what’s right: support Ukraine
We may be fast approaching one of those seminal moments in world history, a moment when we collectively look back and ask, “how did we let this happen?”
How did we allow Vladimir Putin to conquer Ukraine? Why did we not foresee his actions after his victory?
Canada’s European allies are grappling with this question and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been steadfast in his support of Ukraine, but the Republican-led U.S. Congress, at the behest of Donald Trump, has shamefully and tragically turned its back on Kyiv while Russians advance and more lives are lost.
There are signs of Ukrainian “fatigue” among Canadian Conservatives and American Republicans, constituencies which are unable to look beyond short-term domestic concerns, aided and abetted by their political leaders.
As the Russian-Ukraine war enters its third year, there are signs the tide is turning. Ukraine needs artillery, ammunition and soldiers.
Consider this message from the region, a blunt plea to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a recent visit to Washington: “Mr. Johnson must be aware — and (we) hope that he is already aware — that on his individual decision depends the fate of millions of people. In fact, on his decision depends thousands of lives in Ukraine.
“This is not some political skirmish that only matters here in America.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also dropped any diplomatic artifice: “The Ukrainians are not running out of courage,” he said, “they are running out of ammunition.” This lack of NATO support, Stoltenberg said, is emboldening Putin and leading to Russian battlefield advances.
Putin, armed with a new mandate from his charade election, was sounding increasingly cocky in the run-up to the vote, telling state television that it would be “ridiculous” to seek peace with Ukraine while his adversary is running out of ammunition.
The U.S. has provided more than $44 billion (U.S) in security aid to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, but a desperately needed $60 billion aid package has been stalled in the House of Representatives where Republicans have tied it to immigration reform and Johnson refuses to put the package to a vote.
This month, President Joe Biden found $300 million in “unanticipated cost savings” for Ukraine, to be used on anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition and armour systems, a package that will provide help for about two weeks. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium have pledged a total of 45 F-16s to Ukraine, but only a handful are expected to be delivered and operational in the short-term.
Biden administration officials who spoke to the Washington Post on background said Ukrainian anti-aircraft munitions could almost run out by the end of the month, meaning the capability to shoot down four of every five Russian missiles will now be only one in five. Artillery shells are being rationed on the Ukrainian front lines.
It is the U.S. recalcitrance (read Trump resistance) that is turning the war in Putin’s favour and makes a future foray into a NATO country, and the global consequences that would spark, ever more possible.
On the second anniversary of the invasion, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals pledged $3 billion in military and government aid for Ukraine. Much of Ottawa’s commitment, however, is through 2029, designed as a buffer against a further Russian incursion should the current war be resolved.
The Angus Reid Institute reports that 43 per cent of Conservative voters in this country believe we are doing too much to aid Ukraine, more than double the 19 per cent who held this view shortly after the invasion. It also found an increasing number of Canadians tuning out news of the conflict.
Things have turned grim on the battlefield for Ukraine and the Republican-led “America First” world view is strangling the war effort. Canada’s European allies are becoming increasingly alarmed and although Poilievre trumpets support for Ukraine, his likely voters feel otherwise. A “Canada First” movement under a Poilievre-led government would only be music to Putin’s ears, a dagger to Ukraine and the back of our hand to our allies. We don’t want to be asking ourselves how we let this happen.