U. S. President Donald J. Trump’s abandonment of Kurdish allies in northern Syria is another wake-up call for Ukraine. Not that Ukraine needs any more reminders. Trump made it clear in numerous ways that he does not stand up to dictators, human rights abusers and bullies.
He said directly to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in their September press conference during the United Nations General Assembly, that the Ukrainian leader should meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and “sort out their problems.” It’s like sending the victim back to the abuser.
Trump’s July 25 phone call with Zelensky, now the subject of an impeachment inquiry, also showed that the American president doesn’t care about
Ukraine’s security, but only what he can get from other foreign leaders to benefit him politically or financially.
After the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces, many Kurds felt they were left with a terrible choice, reminiscent of Ukrainians who had to choose between Hitler or Stalin: Get slaughtered by Turkey, which considers many of them terrorists, or make a deal with the war criminal Bashar al-Assad. They chose the Syrian dictator.
Ukraine is in a different and better position. It has its own nation, unlike the Kurds, and plenty of people willing to fight for it. It needs a lot more help from the West to prevail in this war. But Trump and the European Union have shown that Ukraine shouldn’t expect much from them. Ukraine is going to have to win this war mostly on its own, until voters in Western nations start electing politicians with greater courage and stronger moral principles to fight for a global expansion of democracy.
