Efforts to end the war Russia launched against Ukraine have been changing quickly. Last week there was a call between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, followed the next day by a meeting in the White House between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky arrived in DC hoping to secure a pledge of further military assistance from the United States, specifically in the form of Tomahawk cruise missiles, which carry larger payloads and fly at faster speeds than long-range Ukrainian-produced drones. They could do real damage to Russian military targets and energy and refining facilities, which provide much-needed funds to Russia’s war efforts.
But no agreement was sealed. Putin’s phone call seemed to scuttle that possibility.
Instead, it seemed that Trump and Putin would meet in Budapest, Hungary in a few weeks and that Ukraine might be pressured into making territorial concessions. And then on Tuesday, Trump announced that that meeting was on hold.
Amid all the back-and-forth, U.S. policy should remain clear and consistent. Specifically, the Trump Administration should:
- ramp up military assistance to Ukraine, including providing Tomahawk missiles and Patriot missiles defense systems,
- tighten sanctions on Russia,
- seize frozen Russian assets together with European allies and make those available to Ukraine,
- press for the release of all kidnapped Ukrainian children, a cause championed by First Lady Melania Trump, and Ukrainian prisoners of war, and
- pressure countries that are buying Russian oil and gas to stop propping up Russia’s energy-dependent economy.
Trump’s efforts to end the war, which Putin started, are laudatory, but peace must be sustainable and just. Putin must not be rewarded for the brutal and unprovoked war that he started.
Ukrainian forces and the country’s citizens have been performing heroically and impressively, staving off a much larger military force from Russia. They have inflicted more than a million casualties on the Russian side, wiped out Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and regained more than 50% of territory Russia seized in the early days of the full-scale invasion.
Thanks to its indigenous production of powerful drones, Ukraine has also been able to hit targets deep inside Russian territory. American-supplied Tomahawks would bolster those efforts significantly. American-manufactured Patriot missile defense systems would help Ukraine defend against Russia’s own drone and missile onslaught.
Ukraine is a key contributor to security on the European continent. It deserves support from the United States and Europe. Putin, on the other hand, is a threat to Ukraine, Europe, and even to the United States. By supporting Ukraine – and surveys of Americans show continued strong support for Ukraine and U.S. leadership — the West helps contain Putin. That, in turn, makes America safer.
See also David Kramer’s latest piece with Eric Edelman on Ukraine in The Dispatch: https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-putin-budapest-ukraine-tomahawks/.
