Ukraine’s President says nation ‘will not give away anything to anyone’
Yet again, the world is hanging on what Russian President Vladimir Putin does next.
But the omens, after his grievance-filled televised vent against Ukraine, the West and the indignities of history on Monday, are very, very dark.
Putin significantly escalated his showdown with the US and its allies, signing decrees recognizing two regions of eastern Ukraine seized by Russian-backed rebels. At the stroke of a pen, Putin sliced off two more pieces of an independent, sovereign nation to add to his seizure of Crimea in 2014.
Moscow said it would send what it called “peacekeepers” to the regions. Its euphemism notwithstanding, US officials fear that the force could be the vanguard of the full invasion mobilization they have predicted for days.
As bad as this latest round of gangster geopolitics is, what unfolds in the coming hours and days will set the world’s course in the years ahead.
What could come next: If Putin were to stop here, it is possible that the Ukraine crisis could be contained, and even give the Russian President an opening to deescalate the situation and desist from a full invasion of the entire country after pocketing new territory in his quest to prevent Ukraine from moving toward the West.
Such a step back — perhaps designed to divide the US from less hawkish allies — might avoid a wider global crisis. In the US, this interim scenario might also spare Americans a damaging new spike in gasoline prices and inflation and allow President Joe Biden to escape another blow to his credibility in a tough midterm election year.
Unfortunately, however, the evidence of Putin’s own furious rhetoric on Monday, the presence of up to 190,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and most assessments of US leaders and intelligence officials suggest hopes for a limited conflict are wishful thinking.
In his speech from the Kremlin, Putin made clear that he sees Ukraine as indistinguishable from Russia and not an independent entity — hardly an argument that suggests restraint. In fact, his screed came across as a justification for a far larger venture than a limited incursion into the east of the country.
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