Yearend Observations about the Torn Curtain

Despite Ukrainians’ valiant efforts, the curtain is still torn and Russia continues to wreak havoc and death across the country and region.

The Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-17 rages without any settlement in sight. Russia is sending troops into Ukraine, supports its murderous mercenary-terrorists, kills Ukrainian civilians and soldiers, destroys towns, pollutes the ecology, and violates the imperfect Minsk ceasefire agreement.

Beyond economic sanctions, which at least send a signal of tepid free world unity to Moscow, the United States and other free world leaders are at a loss as to what should be done to force Russia to lay down its arms, unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine and pay war reparations.

Russian attacks against Ukrainian military positions have intensified in recent weeks. For example, UNIAN reported lately, “Over the past day, four Ukrainian military servicemen were killed and another one wounded amid 28 shellings by Russian hybrid forces on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

At the same time, Ukraine’s gallant soldiers and guardsmen have retaken several strategic towns from Russian forces, showing their military skill and prowess.

Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea still suffer under Russian subjugation. Their indigenous culture, language and religion have been banned by the occupying regime and any mention of an earlier allegiance to Ukraine is severely punished.

In Ukraine, the release of the movie “Cyborg” that chronicles Ukrainian soldiers’ heroic defense of the Donetsk airport at all costs against Russian invaders has mobilized the nation. As some pundits have observed, Vladimir Putin’s belligerence and hatred of Ukraine has done more to consolidate the Ukrainian nation than anyone else.

Faced with limited and lackluster global support, Ukraine has only one alternative as they sang in “Carmen Jones:” “Until you hear dat bell, Dat final bell, Stan’ up an’ fight like hell!”

Here are a few yearend observations.

Lethal Weapons

The Canadian government has taken a step in the right direction by adding Ukraine to its Automatic Firearms Country Control List (AFCCL), a special register of countries to which Canada can export weapons.

As a result, Canadian arms exporters are allowed to seek permits to sell Ukraine certain weapons, devices and other military equipment. Examples of these items include fully automatic firearms, electric stun guns, and large-capacity magazines.

The decision revokes a de-facto Canadian arms embargo on Ukraine, which has been in force for the 26 years since the country became independent in 1991.

Meanwhile, the US merely says it does not rule out the possibility of providing lethal defensive weaponry to Ukraine to help the country tackle Russian aggression. “You ask about the issue of providing lethal assistance to Ukraine. We have not provided defensive weapons, but yet we have not ruled that out either. We just don’t have a lot more to say on that,” said spokesperson for the U.S. Department Heather Nauert.

The United States and the free world must realize that supporting Ukraine politically in its war against Russia is not merely about Ukraine; supporting Ukraine militarily in its war against Russia is also not merely about Ukraine.

Ukraine is the only country now that has real-time military experience is fighting a war against the Russian army. No other country on earth shares this valuable experience. To be sure, free world armies have computer simulations and other digital gadgets to anticipate what Russian soldiers would do in combat situations. However, none of them ever took a hill, drew a line in the sand or shed a drop of blood in battle with Russians. Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action, wounded in action and captured in action.

Furthermore, Ukrainians today are not only fighting, defending and dying for their country but they are also safeguarding the sovereignty and security of the x-captive nations, Europe, Canada and the United States.

Consequently, a contemporary lend-lease supply of military hardware for Ukraine would also benefit the free world.

US Defense Bill

President Donald Trump grudgingly signed into law a $700 billion defense-policy bill that calls for $4.8 billion in spending for US military efforts in Europe, more funding for Ukraine, and for a new ground-launched cruise missile.

The defense bill allocates about $350 million in security assistance to Ukraine, including authorization for lethal defensive weaponry, something Kyiv has been seeking for years, in its fight against Russia in eastern Ukraine.

The measure also provides for the treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers in US military medical facilities.

Because of Trump’s support for Russia and opposition to Ukraine, this is a major step by the White House on behalf of Ukraine.

Nuclear Disarmament

Nuclear disarmament has been a global hot-button issue for decades. The major nuclear powers as well as disarmament non-governmental organizations have been pondering how to reduce the nuclear arsenals around the world.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee earlier in December picked the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its work on addressing the gap in international law regarding the restriction of nuclear weapons.

In her acceptance speech, Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN, warned that mankind’s total destruction at the hands of nuclear weapons was just one “impulsive tantrum away.”

“Will it be the end of nuclear weapons, or will it be the end of us?” Fihn rhetorically asked, referring to the ongoing exchange of threats between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. “The only rational course of action is to cease living under the conditions where our mutual destruction is only one impulsive tantrum away.”

On a local level, Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute, a frequent speaker at the United Nations, urged Rotary Club members in Englewood, NJ, to insist that their elected officials support nuclear disarmament. He said the detonation of just one 800-kiloton nuclear warhead above midtown Manhattan would ignite fires over 100 square miles and all life within seven miles of New York City would be extinguished.

“I am doing everything I can in my life to stop this madness, to stop these weapons from being used,” Granoff said. “Every citizen in Bergen County should be demanding that we help get rid of nuclear weapons and support our legal duty under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to negotiate for elimination.”

Indeed, nuclear disarmament is essential to civilization’s future. Segments of America have been advocating it since the first detonations over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most of those US citizens have been critical of Washington for dragging its feet on this issue while praising Russia siding with them on disarmament.

However, now Russia has shown its true colors by stating it doesn’t support nuclear disarmament. The source of this information isn’t a capitalist, Western news source, but rather a Russian one.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Russia does not support the initiatives aimed at total nuclear disarmament without regard to security interests, Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, said earlier this month.

“In various corners of the international community, attempts are being made to develop a new agreement that completely bans nuclear weapons and to compel nuclear powers to sign it, or even to create such a treaty without nuclear powers,” he said in a speech at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. "This is impossible. This is useless. We will never support such an idea.”

Consequently, while Russia invades Ukraine, increases military operations in Syria, and earmarks additional funds to rebuilding and modernizing is conventional armed forces, it also admits that it will not abandon nuclear weapons. Civilization is an “impulsive tantrum away” from being annihilated by Russia.

That should be a heartening revelation for those who support a favorable “reset” with Moscow.

US Concerned by Escalation of Attacks

Heather Nauert, State Department spokesperson, at a press briefing on December 13, reiterated Washington’s concern regarding Russia’s escalation of attacks against Ukraine. 

“There are continued attacks against civilian infrastructure projects in Donetsk. It’s sad that we have to address this once again. The situation in Ukraine, unfortunately, is not getting any better and so we’re talking about it once again.

“The United States continues to be deeply concerned by the escalating violence and the worsening humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine.”

When it comes to the war in Ukraine and Russia’s belligerence, talking about it is not enough.

“The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is one of the – is the worst it has been now in three years and it is deteriorating. More than 1 million people in the Donbas region are food insecure, civilian casualties are up significantly over last year,” she said.

The Russian war in Ukraine cannot be limited to Washington press conferences or parlor conversations. Free world leaders must adopt strong, painful steps to expel Russian regular troops and mercenary terrorists from Ukraine. It must ban Russia from the global table until it reforms.

Russia Controls 100% of What's Happening in Donbas

US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker admitted that Russia controls 100% of what is happening in Donbas, according to his special briefing published on the website of the US State Department.

Volker discounted that the war is “an internal strife.”

“It’s not an ethnic conflict; it’s not an indigenous conflict. It is one where on the eastern side you have 100% Russian command and control of what’s happening there,” Volker told a briefing in Washington.

Russia remains the feared 600-lb gorilla in the Oval Office, about which everyone would rather whisper politely than subdue.

More on Russia’s Active Role in the War

In its Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2017 dated December 4, 2017, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) presented additional information that also points to direct military engagement between Russian armed forces, not its surrogates, and Ukraine.

It’s Russia, stupid.

The ICC indicated that the international armed conflict in eastern Ukraine began July 14, 2014, five months after Russia invaded Ukrainian Crimea.

In November 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was formally withdrawing its signature from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, just a day after the ICC Prosecutor published a report recognizing the annexation of Crimea as a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and classifying it as an occupation. The UN also designated the so-called Russian annexation of Crimea as an occupation.

The Kremlin’s withdrawal from the ICC will not prevent international war crimes from being recorded and prosecuted by The Hague.

The court’s decision is significant for two reasons: It states that Russia is the aggressor against Ukraine and Russia can be held responsible for international war crimes.

Ukraine is Crucial to US-Russian Relations

Washington’s inclusion of Ukraine into the US-Russia relations formula does not benefit Ukraine. This foolhardy triptych only benefits Russia because all considerations get vetted via the question of how will it benefit Washington’s relations with Moscow rather than how will it benefit Ukraine and the global community.

US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, among others, believes that improvement of Russian-American relations is possible in case of a settlement of the “situation” in Ukraine. Many global leaders hide the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-17 behind references to a “situation” in Ukraine as if it were some sort of obscene pornographic image, unsuitable for society’s eyes and ears.

“The situation in Ukraine presents certain difficulties, especially because we do not see any noticeable progress here. However, Ukraine is, perhaps, the only crucial topic that could breathe new life into the bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington. The United States believes so at least,” Huntsman said. “Ukraine is crucial for restoration of our relations with Moscow.”

His boss, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, made the same observations: “We’ve made this clear to Russia from the very beginning, that we must address Ukraine. It stands as the single most difficult obstacle to us renormalizing the relationship with Russia, which we badly would like to do.”

It is clear that above all other political and diplomatic considerations, Washington wants to restore friendly relationships with Russia. It is irrelevant that the end of the war in Ukraine will benefit Ukrainians. What’s more important to Washington is that it will help restore a solid relationship with Russia. Apparently, as far as Washington is concerned, it would be better if Ukraine would quietly disappear. How offensive is that to Ukraine.

Tillerson at Atlantic Council

Secretary of State Tillerson elaborated on this unfortunate premise in his speech at the 2017 Atlantic Council-Korea Foundation Forum on December 12.

Pro-Ukraine advocates around the world cheered when he declared: “But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is something that we cannot accept.”

Tillerson said when one country, Russia, invades another country, Ukraine, and takes its territory, “We cannot – that cannot be left to stand.”

He explained that Russia’s aggression is the basis for the “very stringent sanctions regime” that the US and Europe imposed on Russia as a result of that invasion, and “that regime will not change until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is resolved and Ukraine’s territorial integrity is returned.”

It would have been better if Tillerson had stopped at that point. But he didn’t.

Tillerson places a great deal of hope on the ineffective Minsk accords, which Russia flagrantly violates every day. He admits that US officials discuss Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas, which is akin to bragging about being paid for something you’re supposed to do. Those diplomatic discussions have not had any positive benefits for Ukraine. Russian soldiers and arms persist in flooding into Ukraine.

If there won’t be any painful penalties against Russia, it will continue doing so until it reaches the Polish border.

As for belittling US-Ukraine relations for the benefit of US-Russia relations, Tillerson went on to say “In other areas with Russia, we are looking for possible cooperations where we have joint counterterrorism interest.” You can’t please two masters – helping Ukraine and its sworn enemy, Russia.

Despite Russia’s military and cyber invasions of Ukraine, the United States and other countries, Tillerson was not ready to condemn Russia and sever relations with it. He naively asked: “It is something I do not understand about why Russia thinks it’s in its interest to disrupt the free and fair elections of other countries. What do you hope to achieve?”

Sadly, Washington has become fertile grounds for the latest crop of morons.

Corruption in Ukraine

On the one hand, the Ukrainian nation and some free world governments support Ukraine in its war with Russia, but on the other hand they justifiably cannot tolerate rampant corruption in Ukraine. It’s a love-hate relationship. The Ukrainian nation has lost its patience with President Poroshenko’s inability or unwillingness to stamp out corruption and graft and arrest some if not all of the criminals.

Poroshenko’s war effort can and must be supported and his national-awareness campaigns are beyond reproach. But his battle against corruption has been a stark failure that has given rise to the likes of Mikheil Saakashvili, who agitates the crowds in his favor and against Poroshenko. Despite his beneficial past record, Saakashvili doesn’t deserve to lead the latest Maidan revolution and the Ukrainian nation cannot withstand the internal devastation of another revolution at the time of war.

Poroshenko must realize that he is a man of destiny. He may well lead the Ukrainian nation to victory against Russian invaders and be inscribed in gold letters as a hero in Ukrainian history books. But if he doesn’t simultaneously squash homegrown perpetrators of corruption in Ukraine, he will suffer the indignation of being characterized as a goat by future generations.