Let me see if I get this right.
In December 1994, the United States signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, promising, along with the United Kingdom and Russia, to recognize the sovereignty of Ukraine and promising never to use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine.
In 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and began nibbling away at eastern Ukraine with the assistance of surrogate terrorists. Eager to inflict damage on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s proxies shot down a Malaysian passenger plane flying overhead. Mr. Putin blamed Ukraine.
Russia signed a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine last September in Minsk. In November, however, NATO’s supreme commander reported the movement of “Russian troops, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems and Russian combat troops” into Ukraine.
Dropping oil prices, a deteriorating economy and the death of scores of Russian soldiers have failed to satiate Mr. Putin’s appetite for expansion into Ukraine. Russian troops march on, and Ukraine remains helpless to stop them without meaningful military assistance.
Our community besieged Congress and the White House to provide military help to Ukraine in its struggle against Muscovite imperialism. Congress and the White House responded. The Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 18, 2014.
What has happened since then? Nothing. No military aid is forthcoming. In his 2015 State of the Union Address, President Obama assured us that Russia has been “neutralized” and that “we’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small – by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy and reassuring our NATO allies.”
Russia responded to these sentiments with further incursions into Ukraine. In response to questions regarding these latest developments President Obama repeated on January 25 that he is “deeply concerned” and declared that he will “ratchet up the pressure on Russia” while “maintaining unity across the Atlantic.”
What will it take to galvanize our president to act on the legislation he himself has signed? White House press secretary Josh Earnest’s remarks were not reassuring on January 31 when he declared that the conflict in eastern Ukraine cannot be resolved by military force.
Ros Saciuk of the Suburban Council of Ukrainian Voters (based in Pallatine, Ill.) informs us that Congress has already appropriated $.350 million to be available for Ukraine’s military defense until 2018. Mr. Obama has until February 16 to submit his plan for military assistance for Ukraine to Congress.
While our president dithers and dodges, Ukraine’s situation grows increasingly dicey and dangerous. The European Union is divided regarding further sanctions against Russia. Bankrupt Greece, now ruled by a neo-Communist government, is in the lead here. The Financial Times writes that Greece’s new foreign affairs minister, Nikos Kotzias, has indicated that Athens would work to prevent “a rift between the European Union and Russia.” France, Italy and to some extent Germany appear poised to join Greece in holding back.
The Lithuanian foreign affairs minister has called recent Russian attacks in Ukraine acts of “terrorism.” Diplomats from Britain, Sweden, Romania and the Baltic states are pushing for more sanctions.
Following tense discussions last week, EU foreign affairs ministers agreed to extend by six months targeted sanctions against individuals and companies in Russia and eastern Ukraine. New broader economic sanctions on Moscow were shelved for the time being.
“EU unity could face a harder test if more violence erupts and pressure builds to expand ‘Phase 3’ sanctions, which cover broad sectors of Russia’s economy such as energy and defense…” the Wall Street Journal informed us on January 30. Asked what he would do if further sanctions were brought up, Mr. Kotzias indicated that Greece might veto them. Think of it. The future of Ukraine could well depend on Greece!
Forgotten in this tragic comedy are the people of eastern Ukraine. Many are dying daily. Their homes have been reduced to rubble. Their lives irrevocably transformed.
Writing in the latest issue of Hoover Digest (“Are We Reliving 1914?”), Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard University, discovered parallels between the beginning of World War I in 1914 and what has recently transpired in Ukraine. “The initial sequence of events after a Malaysian jetliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine was remarkably similar to the one that followed the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in June 1914,” he writes. “Now, as then, a crisis begins with an act of state-sponsored terrorism. Now, as then, Russia sides with the troublemakers. Once again, ownership of a seemingly unimportant region of Eastern Europe is disputed.”
Our president’s apparent lack of moral leadership is alarming to many, including former secretaries of state who, reports Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal, testified before Congress just last week. The consensus was that our foreign policy is dysfunctional. George Shultz, for example, believes the “government seems to have forgotten about execution”. In other words, we no longer do what we promise to do. This sentiment echoed the views of Robert Gates, the president’s former secretary of defense, who in his book “Worthy Fights,” wrote that Mr. Obama “avoids the battle, complains and misses opportunities.”
I believe that the foreign policy of the present White House administration can be summarized in two words: “Do nothing.” Play it safe. Do not provoke. Unfortunately, our enemies don’t respond in kind.
For six years now, I have received e-mails from “Ukrainians for Obama.” In none of them was there even a hint of a constructive critique of the administration. Now is the time to change that. Now is the time for the many Obama supporters in our community to request a meeting with the president. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan met with Ukrainian supporters, so why not Mr. Obama? Mr. Obama’s Ukrainian advocates are entitled to a one-on-one, especially now. Reports of such a meeting in The Ukrainian Weekly, along with a White House photo, would do much to demonstrate that their loyalty has not been misplaced.
The meeting might even help the people of Ukraine.