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Donald Trump’s bilateral effort to put an end to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has incited the usual NeverTrump Dems, along with other foreign policy commentators not necessarily hostile to the president. Some are criticizing Trump for freezing Ukraine and the NATO nations out of the negotiations, insulting Ukraine’s government as corrupt, and denigrating Zelensky. But the real issue is, so far, that there’s been no other plausible plan for ending the bloody meatgrinder stalemate.
The NATO West has not come off well in this crisis. First, the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borderlands after the collapse of the Soviet Union was ill advised, given that Putin as early as 2007 had called European NATO nations’ expansion to Russia’s near abroad a “serious provocation.” Even worse, many NATO members’ feckless neglect of their defense spending, and the sorry state of NATO’s military preparedness, meant that NATO was a paper tiger that couldn’t and wouldn’t backup its challenge to Russia’s ambitions.
Nor was the Biden puppeteers’ criminal negligence in their shambolic withdrawal from Afghanistan helpful in concentrating Putin’s mind. Was there any reason why Vlad wouldn’t think it was a good time to start restoring the Soviet empire?
Putin’s confidence was also strengthened by the mostly performative assertions of NATO nations that they would not let his adventurism stand. But what credibility could NATO summon, given that his initial aggression against Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014 was met with blustering rhetoric and flabby sanctions?
And hadn’t Barack Obama also encouraged Putin with his talk of a “reset” with Russia, promise of “flexibility” after his reelection, and cancellation of antimissile batteries for Russia’s Eastern European nations? There’s also Obama’s earlier flip mockery of Mitt Romney’s warning about Putin’s ambitions during the 2012 presidential debate––“the Eighties called, and they want their foreign policy back.” A mere two years later Putin took Crimea, and was met only with sanctions and a school-marmish scolding from Secretary of State John Kerry.
Similarly, after the flaccid Biden administration took over and shamefully skedaddled from Afghanistan, Putin calculated that his odds were pretty good for making his move. Also encouraging was Biden’s talk about a “minor incursion,” a careless, subjective phrase, and also his publicly taking off the table deploying any U.S. troops to the region.
Next, when the brutal invasion commenced, NATO talked big and provided funds to Ukraine, and Germany boasted that NATO embrace of robust military spending was a “turning point.” But as historian Niall Ferguson wrote at the time, the NATO nations’ “military industrial complex has withered away,” making it nearly impossible to adequately supply Ukraine, let alone their own pygmy militaries.
Hence, they stinted on delivering materiel, especially critical assets like fighter jets and long-range missiles, obviously spooked by Russia’s nuclear arsenal, especially its tactical nukes. Stockpiles of artillery shells and other materiel quickly dwindled. Deliveries slowed down as tens of thousands of Ukrainians died and their country’s infrastructure was destroyed.
Meanwhile, defensive weapons like fighter jets and long-range missiles remained verboten, lest the Russian Bear goes on a rampage.
Nor can the NATO West claim that Putin’s invasion was a big surprise. As the Wall Street Journal wrote, Putin made no secret of his intentions to punish NATO:
“As far back as 2007, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, Mr. Putin excoriated the European security order and teed up NATO enlargement as a ‘serious provocation’ that would justify a serious Russian response. His tone was fierce. In 2008 he reportedly told then-President George W. Bush he didn’t consider Ukraine a real country.”
Nor did Putin keep secret his preparations for the invasion. As John Bolton at the time wrote in the Daily Telegraph,
“The West stood idly by when Russian forces intervened in Donbas and seized Crimea; imposed only perfunctory sanctions thereafter; negotiated the embarrassing, Moscow-leaning Minsk Agreements; and for years did precious little to provide anything close to satisfactory levels of military assistance and training to Ukrainian forces.”
Indeed, for a year before the invasion, NATO nations watched as Putin deployed his forces on Ukraine’s eastern border, and didn’t take steps to prepare for the onslaught, relying instead on feeble threats and sanctions.
Finally, this sorry history of the West’s response to the Russo-Ukrainian war has exposed the fatal weaknesses of our much-vaunted “rules based international order” that foreign policy idealists bragged demonstrated its value with the NATO nations’ noisy but halting support for Ukraine.
But all the shibboleths of that order––soft power, diplomatic engagement, supranational institutions, international law, multinational coalitions––have failed, confirming Thomas Hobbes’ wisdom that “Covenants, without the sword, are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all” –– nor can they establish by action a credible deterrence.
As we’ve seen, the NATO nations have not learned that wisdom, relying on rhetorical bluster about appeasing Putin, which they have serially done since 2008; hectoring sermons about “international norms” against seizing another nation’s sovereign territory”; and flimsy sanctions, which in the case of Russia, have been ineffective. After all, how hard can they bite when Europeans have continued to buy Putin’s natural gas?
More shamefully, for decades the richest NATO nations have ignored their military preparedness, both materiel and troops, free-riding instead on the U.S., and preferring to spend their money on welfare transfers and crackpot suicidal projects like banning the fossil fuel energy that created the modern world. At the same time that they damage their industrial capacity, they are ensuring that they will not be able to build a credible military capacity even if they wanted to.
Finally, as we see with Putin’s brutal invasion, such idealism violates over two millennia of tragic realism, starting with Thucydides’ famous reminder that “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” Equally important is George Washington’s precept, “No nation can be trusted farther than it is bounded by its own interests,” which explains European NATO’s rich deadbeat members whose national leaders and factions have political and personal interests that weigh heavily in their calculations.
We can scold Trump for his methods and hyperbole, but the real question for critics is, what’s your solution? More of the same? Keep sending Ukraine materiel and money, which so far have created a bloody stalemate with no end in sight to the slaughter?
There’s no good resolution of this crisis, only bad or worse ones. Donald Trump at least is making an effort. If we in the West don’t like it, we should at least acknowledge that our own foreign policy idealism and rejection of using the force necessary to stop Putin shares the blame.
The alternative to Negotiating with Putin
is Inputting with Tongue. 👅
as well as now cute news
We should encourage Germany to get off its arsenal and rebuild its military. We should stop bashing Germany for its sordid past. The new generation Germans are not to worry about.
The western war gods insist on making an enemy of Russia, poking the bear repeatedly and driving the Russian government into the welcoming embrace of Red China. This has been going on for almost two centuries, well before the Kaiser’s ill-advised support of Lenin to depose the Romanoffs. For all the malevolent behavior of Stalin from the 1930s through the early 1950s, the Russian people don’t deserve to sacrifice their young in a border dispute with a corrupt regime in Ukraine. But our arms manufacturers and the intelligence community are vested in pitting us against each other. Ronald Reagan made great strides in defusing the ticking bomb, and Bush 41 immediately reversed the gains both in Russia and in China at a time when the central governments in both countries were at risk of losing to democratic forces.
Let us hope that President Trump can “bumble” into peace with Russia and substantially defang the Chinese.
Russia is plenty aggressive all on its own. Puto wants the old vassal territories and countries the evil Soviet Empire seized, most of them after WWII, back, especially the Ukraine, which he believes should be part of Russia, even though the Ukrainians tend to hate Russians.
The only former vassals who want Russia to take control again are most of the ‘Stans, except their leaders. The ordinary people there miss what they call “the Golden Years” of Soviet welfare rubles and free infrastructure. I had a Tajik guy say it right to my face, and he smiled wistfully as he said it. He’s a good guy. He knows the ‘Stans are so different than Russia that the Russkis don’t want to settle there en masse, like they do in the Ukraine. He likes Russians. There’ve never been enough of them in the ‘Stans to behave arrogantly or autocratically like the ones in the Ukraine.
Puto would like the Iron Curtain countries back too but that’s a fantasy.
Puto invaded the Ukraine because he wants it and always has, not because he was provoked in any way.
where exactly is the evidence for these preposterous claims ? where has he done ANYTHING about any one of the former federation members who joined NATO other than express regret and disappointment ? don’t start with georgia the president requested assistance over some internal affair that putin supplied and guess what the troops left after it was. handled. I thought he was going to “lose it” over Finland but he controlled his anger and again DID NOTHING. He has limited operation against the advise of his hardliners in a SMO in the Ukraine which is exactly what he said he would do. where are the troop buildups in anticipation of his aggressive expansionist designs ? there are none. It is time for all this misinformed bellicose language to be put aside and let the misplaced anger over something which does not concern us and allow trump to see if he can get this resolved. He understands the deal here and it will be immediately manifest if putin is really a bad actor along the lines of your unwarranted accusations.
Please; are you kidding. Stop the stupid argument about our “arms manufactures, etc.” This is all about Putin asking for a treaty to take away Ukraine’s nuclear weapons and then invading 3 times. About the US & Britain not supporting Ukraine. That corrupt comment is just absurd, as Putin runs a dictatorship as strong as Mao’s. If Russia did not attack the Russian young would not lose their lives. Putin does not decide if Ukraine becomes a part of NATO. He should worry about falling birth rates. Whatever happens in Russia; it will not stop the communist Chinese who want to have World domination. Stop conflating a dozen different situations and concentrate on Putin writing and pushing and killing to take of Eastern Europe. & according to the ISW Putin can not continue into 2026.
Give the Ukrainians cluster munitions to bomb civilians in the Dombass.
Then when the Russians shoot back,
accuse Pootler of being a madman who wants to save Paris from Gay Jihadis.
Then give Ukrainians more cluster munitions to bomb civilians in the Dombass.
Rinse and repeat.
Oh, I forgot the important part.
Cash the checks. And celebrate all the slaughter of white men.
I’m sure slaughtering white men is really funny.
The rest of us want the war WE STARTED to stop.
What’s really funny is that there exists a slice of humanity which proudly claims Dumbass as home.
Putin is not the savior of the white race or he would not have invade 3 times. All your other comments are nonsense, too.
“What’s the Alternative to Negotiating with Putin? What, exactly, can end the bloody meat-grinder stalemate?”
I think you answered your own rhetorical question and it’s “who,” not what.
Trump will never forgive Zelensky for refusing to be blackmailed by him, leading to Trump’s first impeachment,
Trump went from the lie of “I want nothing, I want nothing, I want no quid pro quo” to “give me all your natural resources or I’ll hand you over to Putin.”
Slamdunk:
It’s fair to assume that you think Biden was a better president than Trump. Care to explain how and why? Careful. Don’t hurt yourself in the process of trying.
Just to be clear, Ukraine-Russia is Europe’s problem, not ours. Whatever money we gave the Ukrainians needs to be paid back and with interest. No if, ands or buts about it. The US is not a charity and we have plenty of problems of our own that that money would be better spent on.
I’m sure that there are those in this forum who would disagree with what I say but the onus is on them to articulate a contrary opinion.
I’m 99% certain that if the US came under a massive nuclear attack, there’s not a country on this planet that would come to our defense. In fact, there are some countries that would rejoice and say that we deserved it.
It is NOTHING to do with America or BRITAIN or the EU bureaucracy. But the elites cannot keep their noses out.
Playing the Blame Game gets us nowhere, as both sides will argue Ad Infinitum that their side is right and the other side is to blame.
President Trump agrees. He just wants to broker a practical way to end the war. Reportedly, Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Thursday to discuss having America get access to the rare minerals and metals in the Ukraine that Trump wants. And we know Vlad has already talked with him over the phone and will meet with him before too long. Trump has no problem inviting leaders like him to the White House and feting them. Even lil’ Kim is coming.
Blame game? Putin wanted the treaty and then invaded. Give Ukraine back their nuclear weapons. A leftist comment of “everything is the same.”
NATO should be dismantled. The west overthrew an elected government in Ukraine to install a puppet regime in order to attack Russia. They recently tried to do the same thing in Georgia. Nobody would have believed that in the 2020s there would be German tanks crewed by Nazis rolling across into Russia. Here’s an idea, maybe we could just leave them alone and stop trying to destabilize every country just because they don’t want to be part of our shitty “rules-based order”. I don’t give a shit if they don’t have democracy-that’s up to them.
Fake news; the previous government is why there is so much corruption; it was bought and paid for by Putin.
thank you gordon !!! not every commentator on this site is insane
Time is ripe for Putin to continue his goal of taking back The Soviet Empire, one territory, country, at a time. The President for Life will create blame and make excuses, “to save our Russian citizens.” Who’s there to stop him… and he knows that Europe is now dependent on their energy supplies, that Trump warned about, but the EU, while blaming Russia and Putin, will continue to give him the funds to continue his expansion.
When Reagan challenged The Evil Empire in an arms race, SDI/STAR WARS leaped ahead of all weapons. A country built a missile that went 3000 mph, then the other country, 5000, then 10,000 and on and on…. UNTIL A WEAPON THAT WENT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
The Airborne Laser plane, based here in Albuquerque, was used in a test. The Plane, so heavy it used almost all of its fuel to just take off, was used to shoot down a missile. The test, they said, was unsuccessful since there were two moving objects and was only 30% effective. BULLLLLSHHITTE! They couldn’t say it was 100% effective. Two moving objects?? DUH… The missile traveled one inch when hit with a laser going THE SPEED OF LIGHT WHICH HIT IT IMMEDIATELY. The further the missile, the easier to hit it since the aiming device barely moved a quarter-inch.
MY SUSPICION as to why the North Korean missiles were blowing up after only a few seconds, is the Airborne was used to shoot them down as soon as they came over the horizon. WE INFORMED NK, who then informed China, then on to Russia, that THE UNITED STATES was going to use the Airborne to show these countries what it was capable of, and OUR USE IF NEEDED!
TIME TO STAND UP TO PUTIN! That weasel is testing us, and he must be stopped NOW! A full-court press in a coordinated front! NO GIVING HIM ONE IN OF TERRITORY. We all know too, that when he’s overthrown, or dies, the people in the regions he took over, will demand that they return to their sovereign borders… RUSSIANS OUT!
THE COM-LEFT DEMOCRATS are saying that Trump is a Putin stooge. “He’s my friend.” So is Xi and Kim. NEGOTIATING TACTIC! What if Trump called them names… how would a meeting between the two even start off with? So, Trump lowers their guard inside of them coming in like a raging bull. I never watched The Apprentice more than a few seconds, but he put them down, embarrassed them, and that gives him the advantage in these meetings to say it like it is…. UNAFRAID!
NATO and Ukraine, not Putin and “empire,” is the issue and perhaps the answer to the question. Clinton, among others promised that NATO would not expand westward, “not one inch,” (all on record), yet it did expand, sucking up ten countries in the process. The US didn’t accept the idea of Russian missiles in Cuba (too close to home), remember? Why would Putin accept the idea of a NATO-ized Ukraine and missiles in his backyard?
“What, exactly, can end the bloody meat-grinder stalemate?”
The short answer is when they run out of meat to grind. Obviously there is still plenty of meat to grind so the war goes on. It’s nothing new or unusual in the history of humankind.
If kgb bastard puttin had an “accident That would be good…
this is a dumb column. putin has no expansionist agendas he went into georgia at the request of the president of the country oh and guess what when the issues were resolved the russians troops left. as Dr Stephen cohen said about crimea ‘forget about it” the russians are never letting it go and frankly the crimeans have no such desire. Putin. has sat down for many former federation members joining NATO and perhaps I may have missed something but my impression was his reaction were limited to comments about his disappointment. He ranted about finland doing so but again did nothing. He has exhibited preternatural patience after the subversion in the ukriane election of ’14 the color revolution fomented by operatives of foggy bottom such as nuland and mccain both. photoed in the streets of kiev egging people on. It is said since that year over 14k russian citizens have been killed by azov battalion attacks and that close to 90% of locals wish to remain with russia. He has been entirely consistent and is rightfully incensed, as am i ,over the breach of the solemn promises of reagan and bush sr to gorbachev that NATO would not land up on their border. Never mind the bio labs. It is a disgrace that Mr. Thornton engaged in the use of such provocative terms leveled against russia in this column and not helpful in the goal of settling the dispute. He has not sent the close to 2 million strong troops necessary to invade and has in fact limited this to a SMO as stated at the same time constraining hard liners in his administration and military for which i am very grateful. he also gave a startling historical analysis of 30 minutes prior to the carlson interview for the purpose of our dumbed down public to understand the context of the history of region. It is beyond outrageous to be characterizing him as some Napoleon of our era all his actions to date belie such a ridiculous interpretation. i am surprised reading this tripe on this site and suggest mr. thornton might wish to watch the 45 minute youtube video by john mearsheimer which accurately analyzes background to this conflict.
Putin wrote that he wants to reestablish the old Soviet Union. Ergo, your comment is just wrong, if not Putin propaganda.
it is not wrong nor is it propaganda as i can find absolutely no evidence in his actions to support your claim. would he prefer the old federation states aligning with russia ? yes he would but he has accepted their decisions to the contrary in joining NATO which very definitely has expansionist designs in the so called “mackinder” land mass. He even sat down over Finland a year or so ago. It was his preference to join NATO and he was turned down by the “serial rapist”. I was alive and conscious during the cold war and silly me believed once the federation fell we would develop into spheres of influence in a multipolar power world. along the lines described by alexandr dugin. This situation is part of a naked strategy by NATO to continue the unipolar power of america. if there is some justification for this policy I am open to hearing it. Reagan must be turning over in his grave. I can’t even blame zelenskyy here as he originally was prepared to negotiate along the minsk agreements but was deterred by boris johnson. what in the hell was johnson doing in kiev attempting to control the situation. I can just imagine if this nonsense were going on in our hemisphere.
it is neither. i don’t doubt he would like to see the voluntary alignment of the former members of the federation. this does not imply he has nefarious actions in mind to do so. Why if this becomes the will of the countries involved does this make him a dictator ? I think if things keep going on the trajectory in the west they are on and BRICS gets some traction it might be possible for old federation countries to realign with russia. I guess I am some naive fool but i actually expected after the fall we would find ourselves in a multipolar world where countries or blocks of them pursued their local interests peacefully. Clearly if his actions in future indicate he intends to try to achieve this militarily and against the will of countries involved this becomes another matter. He has done exactly NOTHING to date which is in any way questionable he sat down for many of the former federation countries joining NATO, which even George Kennan thought should be disbanded, only expressing disappointment. When Georgia was on brink of a color revolution god help us he sent troops requested by the president who GUESS WHAT left after issue was resolved. Additionally after that horror in ukraine in ’14 he DID NOT as his bellicose advisors wanted invade. He said the line in sand was NATO encroachment. Frankly if I were he I believe i would have in fact been in favor of removing the regime installed by foggy bottom. Yeah some imperial adventurer. He wants russia to be a major power broker ? Geographically it is perfectly natural that the mackinder geopolitical analysis would see russia trying to be the regional power. I am also incensed at the treatment of alexandr dugin who is a professor with a particular POVs regarding the national character of the peoples of his region being tarred as some nazi. try Putin’s half hour presentation of history of region prior to carlson interview of john mearsheimer U of Chicago 45 minutes discussion. i think it might change your thinking. Dr. Cohen from Columbia heir to richard pipes the grand man specialist on russia who accurately advised reagan was another voice of reason. It is too bad he died
Putin behaved himself during Trump’s first term. Then as soon as he got in the White House, Biden sent many signals to Putin, letting him know that the time was ripe for invading Ukraine, not the least of which was our absolute surrender in Afghanistan. Now Trump has to clean up the mess.
It is very interesting to note that, ever since Russia abandoned communism for a more free society, the international Left have bad mouthed them. It is also very interesting that Obama tried to provoke a war with Russia as he was leaving office. The Left truly do not like Putin, but it is not because he is a bad guy; it is because he is not a communist.
Is it fake news that Nikita Khrushchev gave Crimea to Ukraine in 1953, the Russian Parliament declared the gift unconstitutional in 1996, and Putin decided to take back Russia’s legitimate territory in 2014?
ENOUGH!
This is a Euro problem. Euro has fought each other for for 1500+yrs, NO USA money. Leave my tax bucks alone. Here.
Putin was riding m\Motorcycles and Horses while Obama was riding his Stupid Bicycle