West must help Ukrainians finish the job

As Russia positioned more than 150,000 troops along the Ukraine border a year ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a message for its leaders and military:

“When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.”

More than a year has passed since Putin illegally and audaciously blitzed troops into Ukraine with the sinister purpose of absorbing a sovereign nation into his self-serving vision of an imperialist Russia, and in doing so denying Ukrainians their culture, language and identity.

Yet Ukrainians’ steely resolve has never waned. There’s no sign it will, and that should serve as the anchor to an unyielding commitment from the U.S. and NATO to help Ukraine preserve its territorial integrity — every inch of it.

At first, the globe expected Ukraine’s fall to be devastatingly quick. With lightning speed, Russian forces had moved deep into Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and swept through towns on the outskirts of Kyiv, the country’s capital. Yet Ukraine began winning.

Through it all, the world has been at once amazed and inspired by Ukrainian courage in the face of criminal barbarity. That courage was hailed by President Joe Biden through his visit to Kyiv last week and his meeting with Zelenskyy. The mere fact that a U.S. president could visit Kyiv in wartime cemented just how resilient Ukrainian forces have been in the face of Russian aggression.

Wars have a way of changing how America perceives and interacts with the world, and even the way Americans interact with each other. It’s true of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The everyday lives of Americans have palpably changed. It costs us more to drive to work, or to take the kids on a road trip. The war isn’t the only force driving inflation, but it factors heavily.

But our view of the world has changed as well. For America, the war has made Russian President Vladimir Putin Public Enemy No. 1. He has always been an unpredictable antagonist, but the wanton brutality he has exhibited in Ukraine has made clear that he should be perceived as a war criminal profoundly indifferent to the consequences of his actions on the lives of innocent civilians, young and old.

Putin has resurrected the angst of the Cold War, when worries about a nuclear attack were real and ever-present. Though the world isn’t yet on the cusp of another nuclear arms race, Putin’s actions have stoked legitimate concerns about that unnerving prospect.

Putin has forced all this change on America and the rest of the world. But his actions have also led to a profound transformation within the West — a unification of nations and agendas into an alliance committed to helping Ukraine defeat Putin and his forces.

Ukraine will need a unified West as the war moves into its second year. All signs point to a Russian offensive in coming weeks that will severely test Ukrainian forces in eastern Donbas lands. A renewed push by Russian forces to take Kyiv could also come from the north.

The war is sure to press on for months, if not longer. Last week, Zelenskyy asked Western nations to provide more arms and military equipment to his forces, and quickly.

The U.S. and its NATO allies should ensure Ukrainian forces are replenished, and should heed Zelenskyy’s plea for haste. Putin has made it clear he is digging in, and won’t stop until Ukraine is firmly and irrevocably absorbed by Russia.

The U.S. and NATO must not assume that Putin’s imperialist ambitions end with Ukraine. Putin has often lamented the Soviet collapse, and the nations that comprise NATO’s eastern flank understandably worry that a Russian victory in Ukraine would put them in Putin’s crosshairs.

Regardless of the war’s duration, Ukraine and the West cannot acquiesce, and cannot accept anything short of complete preservation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. To their credit, Zelenskyy and his fellow Ukrainians have shown the willingness and capability to stop Putin in his tracks. Helping Ukraine finish the job isn’t just one of several options the West should weigh — it’s the only option.