According to the Wall Street Journal, France will train 400 Russian Navy soldiers to operate advanced Mistral warships. As long as NATO allies like France are willing to sell their souls – in this case $1.6 billion for the two warships that will improve Russia’s ability to launch amphibious attacks – the world has no hope of living in peace. Russian Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky famously said that had his country had Mistrals in 2008, it would have won its war against Georgia in “40 minutes instead of 26 hours.”
This phrase alone shows clearly that Russia has more attacks in mind.
NATO should buy the ships from France and give them to Ukraine to help rebuild its military. Instead, these warships could be used to kill Ukrainians, which would put France in the category of arming the enemy.
But there are other problems. While the West knows Vladimir Putin’s rule amounts to a giant kleptocracy, London banks are more than happy to launder the Russian oligarchs’ dirty money.
Also, after German business leaders got in trouble for being nice to Putin, their campaign against tough sanctions went underground, leaving German Chancellor Angela Merkel with tough words and nothing else.
Meanwhile, global energy giants are still cutting new deals to explore for Russian energy. BP just forged a deal with state-owned Rosneft, whose chief executive Igor Sechin, a close Putin ally, is subject to individual sanctions from the West. But because the company is not subject to sanctions, BP can go through with the deal.
A world that is more greatly connected by international trade is no guarantee against barbarism, as Putin’s savaging of Ukraine shows. Nations and leaders must still act with morality and courage. Both characteristics are in short supply among Western leaders.
