Meanwhile, in western Ukraine, a modest number of American trainers are
starting to help Ukrainian troops improve their ability to defend
themselvs and the nation.
Where this is heading is anybody’s guess. We’re back to Kremlin watching or, more specifically, Vladimir Putin-watching.
Stephen
Sestanovich, a professor at Columbia University and senior fellow at
the Council on Foreign Relations, finds reason for optimism in Putin’s
annual call-in program earlier this month. He thought Putin struck a
more conciliatory tone. He wrote: “No one should think Russian pressure
on Ukraine is over, nor that Russian lying has ended…But Mr. Putin
presents himself as someone more satisfied with the status quo, more
ready to discourage new separatist offensives, more inclined to deflate
Russia’s nationalist hysteria just a little.”
But, as Setanovich writes, the West may find an outwardly more conciliatory Putin harder to combat than an openly hostile one.
Our
position stands: Ukraine needs to stay on a perpetual war footing while
fighting corruption. The West needs to give aid and military assistance
contingent on a genuine uprooting of graft and oligarchic interests
that have kept Ukraine impoverished. This is a marathon over values, not
a sprint over tactics.
