Editorial — by Kyiv Post
A child of a Sich special volunteer battalion member holds her father during an oath-taking and farewell ceremony in Kyiv on August 26.
When does a ceasefire look like surrender? When practically all of the conditions of the enemy are met and their remaining ones are not precluded from happening. That is what Ukraine is living with today.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and many in the West are trying mightily to declare the current ceasefire – in which Ukrainians are still being killed – and a peace plan in Minsk as an acceptable framework to achieve lasting peace.
But they are not.
Russia has gotten everything it wants at this stage – military victory in the east, concessions from Poroshenko and the avoidance of crushing sanctions from the West for Vladimir Putin’s lawless behavior.
Granted, Poroshenko was forced into the peace deal by severe battlefield losses, including the Sept. 5 massacre at Illovaisk, in a rout by the Russian regular army. Ukraine’s forces are simply overpowered. The West also forced Poroshenko’s surrender by not arming, training and supplying Ukraine’s military and by offering inadequate financial help to meet the Russian threat. This left the president will few options except for retreat.
We (Kyiv Post editorial) think that the status quo is unacceptable and will not halt Russian hostilities.
The Kremlin-backed insurgents have retaken ground and are now strutting as if they have nothing to fear, calling news conferences and promising a return of the Russian Empire. Putin has called the West’s bluff and won.
The European Union says it will on Sept. 12 announce new and tougher set of sanctions, especially against Russia’s energy sector. These and more should have been imposed in February, when the Russian army invaded Crimea, not this fall.
The fundamental problem, however, remains the West’s inability to see the conflict clearly. This is still not largely seen as a struggle of democratic nations against a menacing, nuclear-armed dictator that threatens world peace, but rather a distant conflict involving part of a nation in a far-off land. The prescription for defeating Putin is clear. It requires strong principles, unity and sacrifice from the West.
What is "Putin's Plan"?. Putin's Plan is Russia's victory over Ukraine and the West. He has no other plans.
The EU and other big energy customers of Russia should work to reduce their purchases from the Kremlin and jointly work on projects that would achieve energy independence. Big energy companies should also be prohibited from investing in Russia. Much more needs to be done in investigating and exposing Russian assets abroad for possible criminal cases.
There should be no debate about shunning Russia on the international stage, including boycotts of prestigious events such as the 2018 World Cup.
Rather than work for peace, Russia is using its military victory to retake parts of the Donbas that Ukrainian troops temporarily liberated this year. It is also not behaving like it wants peace with Ukraine, by continuing to threaten the nation’s gas supplies and other customers, such as Poland, who want to re-sell to Ukraine.
Putin’s appetite for conquest is growing. The West remains stronger and able to stop Putin, but only if it takes a united response. As for Ukraine, we continue to advocate the militarization of society and the mobilization of a large army. Ukraine can never surrender its nation and the West should be ashamed of its ongoing appeasement of Putin, who is trying to veto the Western, demoratic aspirations of Ukrainians who do not share his warped dream of recreating a version of the Soviet Union.
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