War with Russia: Now or Later but It will Happen

Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and spiritual mentor of Ukrainian nationalism who was assassinated by a Moscow agent in October 1959, was right.

Ukraine and Ukrainians will never be free of Russian aggression, threats and intimidations, and its mission to subjugate and then re-subjugate Ukraine. Russia will always be primed to ignite hot or cold wars with Ukraine in hopes of finally subduing the nation and capturing the country and its natural resources. Perpetual attentiveness by Ukrainians and the free world to Russian intentions will be required to safeguard Ukraine from Russian invasions and assaults.

As long as Ukraine and Russia will exist, Moscow will always intermittently raise the specter of invasion and captivity as it has for a thousand years regardless of who occupies The Kremlin. So it was under the tsars and commissars, so it is under Putin. The ideology and color of the flag are irrelevant. This is a national mindset.

Russia’s historical mission, as enunciated in every annual iteration of its defense and security policy that is available for all to read just as Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was, is to create or restore depending on the situation the glory of Mother Russia, to build a mighty Holy Russian Empire, armed with the latest weapons to defend itself or expand its territory, and to keep at bay all real or imaginary enemies.

And the lynchpin of its mission and reincarnated glory is Ukraine. Without it, everyone in The Kremlin knows Russia isn’t worth a plugged nickel. That is the crux of the issue in Moscow’s mind, and that is the root of the impending war that everyone is awaiting with trepidation. Restoration of the lost empire with an encrusted Ukrainian Easter egg in the center would be a monumental accomplishment for Vladimir Putin.

Sadly, the problem with the well-intentioned but shallow analyses of the Russo-Ukraine war of 2014-22, the appeals for diplomatic efforts and ruminations about whether or not Moscow will again invade Ukraine now or in the near future is that the pundits and advisors lack historical knowledge and insight about the genesis and provenance of Russia’s antipathy toward Ukraine. It’s not about today. This deficiency sets the free world on a misguided path of focusing on absurd comments about the necessity of diplomacy and negotiations with an enemy who has your nation by the throat. Diplomacy and negotiations lead to compromises and, as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir pointed out, “To be or not to be is not a question of compromise. Either you be or you don’t be.” There can be no negotiations with an aggressor whose bloodied boots are on your land.

Free world leaders and pundits alike view events on the border between Ukraine and Russia like they do Russia’s invasion of Donbas and Crimea: They regard them as disjointed, distinct snippets of current events that don’t have a basis in history.

The Kremlin convinced President Biden and other free world leaders that the issue pertains exclusively to Russia’s security. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO has been inching closer to Russia’s border, and now independent Ukraine, Russia’s arch-enemy, is an ally of NATO and the free world.

Yes, Russia would rather not have Ukraine and NATO firmly ensconced on its border. However, the key point is that Russia would rather have Ukraine be a malleable province like Belarus that in time will be fully absorbed by Moscow into its revived empire thus fulfilling its 1,000-year-old mission.

Regrettably, analyzing current events based on one thousand years is beyond the scope of contemporary pundits and national leaders.

Putin, himself, cites his desire for Ukraine’s future just like Hitler did about Germans in foreign countries – Volksdeutsche. He has frequently spoken about the singularity of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, their common language, culture, history, past and destiny.

Putin has condemned efforts by outsiders to undermine what he considers the national unity of the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. When Russia attacked and annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Putin declared that Russians and Ukrainians are “one people” thus setting the stage for the ultimate absorption of Ukraine and its people by Russia. Hitler also had this idea in mind when he declared his intention to swallow Germans everywhere into a greater Germany – an “Anschluss” as it was called.

“People who have their own views on history and the history of our country may argue with me, but it seems to me that the Russian and Ukrainian peoples are practically one people,” Putin recently told a youth camp outside of Moscow. Unfortunately, President Biden, expressed this lapsus linguae as he reiterated this false and offensive line of thinking in his televised speech about Ukraine on February 16, when he said: “To the citizens of Russia: You are not our enemy. And I do not believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine — a country and a people with whom you share such deep ties of family, history, and culture.”

To some, Russia’s ominous plans for Ukraine have been well known. In an editorial in the Autumn 1945 edition of The Ukrainian Quarterly, the editors pointed out that to the captive nations of Eastern Europe, “Russian nationalism is an even greater menace than it is to the outside world. For them, it spells denationalization and destruction of their national identity. Taking advantage of the victory over the Nazis and their prowess in international relations, the Soviet rulers have now inaugurated a policy of denationalization of the non-Russian peoples of the USSR. They have as their pattern the similar policy of Peter I to make ‘Russia’ peopled by one homogenous Russian Orthodox people.”

The editors also noted that “The chief victim here is Ukraine, which Russia is determined at all costs to russify and gradually transform into a mere Russian province. It is far from an easy task, however, for Ukrainian national consciousness is very high and offers vigorous opposition to the resurgent Russian nationalism. Thus, in western Ukraine, the opposition has developed into open warfare, conducted by Ukrainian underground forces. Thus now it is really a struggle of Moscow against Kyiv.”

Indeed this latest looming fateful war between Ukraine and Russia will reaffirm that for 10 centuries it was always a matter of Moscow against Kyiv.

History has taught us that Moscow’s war against Ukraine will continue for decades or until Russia ultimately meets the same fate as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. This latest invasion of Ukraine will happen now or in the near future while the United States and other free world countries will be left standing on the sidelines threatening or warning that they would rain Armageddon on Moscow and its leaders if and when Russian soldiers cross Ukraine’s border though never revealing what that would look like.

However, Moscow and the free world should appreciate that with every passing week, even teenagers and grandmothers are becoming skilled in the art of national self-defense and are ready to fill trenches on the border or in Kyiv together with soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Indeed, there will be blood again thanks to Moscow.

President Biden Allows Minor Invasion of Ukraine

President Biden at his second press conference of his administration today surpassed his typical oratory gaffes by allowing Moscow’s dictator Putin the option of launching merely a minor invasion of Ukraine with minor retribution rather than a massive one with apocalyptic consequences for Russia.

What, you may be wondering?

Indeed.

For at least a half a year Moscow has been visibly mobilizing an army of more than 150,000 soldiers and accompanying tanks and artillery on Ukraine’s border, threatening a third invasion after the first in Crimea and the second in Donbas in 2014.

The free world huffed and puffed and promised severe recriminations if Russia fulfilled its promise to invade if it didn’t receive guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO.

Guarantees aren’t forthcoming while Russian threats are as the red carpet for Russian soldiers had been rolled out be the White House.

By now it must be obvious that Russia will cross Ukraine’s border again in order to seize, occupy and subjugate more Ukrainian territory and people. And President Biden almost offhandedly admitted that Moscow will create an international incident worthy of condemnation by the free world and the United Nations by doing so.

“My guess is he will move in. He has to do something,” Biden said of Putin’s intention at the press conference.

But then he couched his view of Putin’s possible actions in a vague gradation of minor to major invasion levels as if the amount of Ukrainian blood shed or territory seized doesn’t make a difference in the long run.

“Russia will be held accountable if it invades,” Biden repeated his often stated but undefined warning — adding that consequences would depend on whether Moscow committed a “minor incursion” or a more severe advance.

For two venial sins, please say two Our Fathers and two Hail Marys.

For fighting during recess, you’ll stay 30 minutes after school.

All Putin and his generals now have to do is outline an invasion that the American President can only characterize as minor but will still have the imperial impact of occupying more Ukrainian territory and imprisoning more Ukrainian men, women and children.

Former captive nations officials as well as The Torn Curtain 1991 have opposed post-invasion sanctions, noting that the full weight of the free world’s opposition to Moscow’s continuing aggression must be demonstrated before the Russian army crosses the Ukrainian border.

Biden’s characterization of potential Moscow aggression against Ukraine as potentially “minor” drew immediate anger from Republicans, including Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who recently visited Ukraine with a congressional delegation.

In a statement, Portman said: “Any incursion by the Russian military into Ukraine should be viewed as a major incursion because it will destabilize Ukraine and freedom-loving countries in Eastern Europe.”

To be fair, later the White House sought to whitewash Biden’s lapsus linguae, saying that any Russian aggression would be met with “decisive, reciprocal, and united” action.

“If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border, that's a renewed invasion, and it will be met with a swift, severe, and united response from the United States and our allies,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, noting Russia's frequent deployment of “aggression short of military action” like cyberattacks and paramilitary hits.

President Biden has said that he believes Putin doesn’t want a full-blown war in Ukraine which is an odd statement considering what’s happening in Donetsk and Luhansk.

Sadly, at this point it doesn’t matter. President Biden stumbled into allowing Moscow to invade Ukraine — minor or major degree notwithstanding. Was the invasion of Crimea a minor or major act of war? Was the invasion of eastern Ukraine a minor or major act of war? Was the subjugation of Eastern Europe a minor or major act of war?

Ukrainians will defend their independent Ukraine homeland with or without the United States. The people and soldiers will shed their blood until the last drop. And minstrels will memorialize of the nation’s heroism for future generations.

Thank you, President Biden.

Biden-Putin Dialogue Reaffirms Kremlin’s Rule

The second telephone conversation between President Joe Biden and Russian Führer Vladimir Putin did not break any new ground except reaffirm the sad reality that the corner office in the Kremlin continues to rule regional and global affairs.

At the request or insistence of the Moscow dictator, the two presidents spoke for nearly an hour on Thursday, December 30, in hopes of deflating the extremely dangerous Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border that could explode into a regional if not global war that will dwarf World War Two.

Despite the naïve questions posed by some news writers and broadcasters about Moscow intentions, the reason is simple and everlasting. The Kremlin wants to rebuild its empire by re-subjugating the former captive nations of Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland and others. By reaching the geo-political and military dimensions of the late Soviet Union, Moscow would be feared and respected by all countries and international organizations such as NATO. And the Atlantic alliance will think three times about edging closer Russia’s border.

Russia is certainly successfully heading in the direction of ruling the global roost. It threatens the region and world under the guise of fearing for its security – imagine today’s NATO deciding it will subdue or vanquish Russia. World leaders take notice, plead for cooler heads to prevail and pledge to meet with the aggressor like Neville Chamberlain did in 1938. Consequently, the White House agreed to talk with the Kremlin about Ukraine.

Would Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have met with Adolph Hitler about Nazi invasions of Europe?

The inconclusive conversation was at the same offensive to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian nation because it violated the principle enunciated by President Viktor Poroshenko: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine!

Two options still remain on the table: a diplomatic solution, which means that Moscow would give into the free world’s pleas and other enticements, or sanctions and retributions, which mean that Russia would be painfully punished for invading Ukraine again.

The first one is obviously out of the question. Leaders of the former captive nations that are equally concerned by Moscow’s conceivable invasion of their independent countries also favor a strong, punitive response to Russia’s belligerence.

The only course of action is to punish Russia for disrupting global peace and security. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine” and “made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine.” No details were given.

Putin has promised to sever diplomatic relations with the United States in the event of drastic reprisals. Washington should immediately jump on this option before a Russian invasion thereby demonstrating its hardline commitment and perhaps forcing Russia to stand down.

Punitive sanctions should happen before Russia sends its army across the Ukrainian frontier, which will surely lead to bloodshed the amounts of which haven’t been seen since the Second World War. Experts have opined that the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are being bolstered by the United States, some free world countries, and the x-captive nations, are vastly improved since the 1991 Declaration of Independence. However, they and realistically all other armies are no match for the Russian military machine. That prospect is not expected to diminish the Ukrainian armed forces’ nationalistic commitment and spirit to defending the country and nation to the last bullet. Moreover, the Ukrainian civilian population is preparing to join the fight with auxiliary and guerrilla armies like Ukrainians had mobilized during World War Two – the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Training has already begun.

The holidays notwithstanding, the Ukrainian nation, the people, are going about their holiday and New Year chores entirely cognizant that a full blown war with Russia is coming. They feel it in their blood and souls and no telephone conversation between Biden and Putin will assuage their precarious certainty because regrettably Biden doesn’t rule the outcome unless he takes a hard, immovable posture. Otherwise, Putin will continue to rule and the free world will bow at his feet.

A businessman from western Ukraine confirmed this conviction to me today. War is coming and only the naïve don’t believe it or hope for the best. He said the Russian mission is to capture Mariupol, a city of regional significance in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, in the Pryazovia region. It is the 10th-largest city in Ukraine, and the second largest in the Donetsk Oblast with a population of 431,859. The reason for this strategic move is clear: establish a water pipeline to Crimea because Kyiv rightly turned off the spigot after Moscow invaded and temporarily occupied it and then it would control the Azov shoreline as well as the eastern half of the Black sea. Not insignificant bodies of water.

This does not bode well for a truly happy, merry and joyous Christmas in Ukraine.

There will be Blood if Moscow Doesn’t Stand Down

The Russians have advanced to the border with Ukraine while Ukrainian soldiers are digging in, fully cognizant that they will shed blood to repel Moscow’s latest invasion.

As we conclude 2021, Ukraine continues to be embroiled in the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-22 that Moscow started when it conquered and illegally occupied and annexed the Crimean peninsula thereby redrawing Ukraine’s border. That fact alone is a violation of international law and the UN Charter. A few months later Russia launched a full-scale war in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 15,000 civilian and military lives. And today Russia has escalated its belligerence by mobilizing more than 150,000 troops with armor and artillery on the border with Ukraine, threatening to invade again.

Without a doubt, another Russian invasion of Ukraine, like a scourge of locust, will be a disaster for both sides, realistically observed Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in an interview with Politico. After all, the Russo-Ukraine War of 2014-22 is already the longest one in modern European history.

“It will be Ukrainian blood, it will be Russian blood, and a lot of soldiers from Russia will come to home in coffins, and Facebook, Instagram, Telegram channels will show it. It will be a disaster,” Reznikov coldheartedly assessed.

But that’s war. The only good part of war is its end. But if an aggressor is to be repelled, it should be done swiftly and efficiently. An evil villain, Russia, has for centuries invaded Ukraine again and again, attempting to capture, occupy and subjugate the country and nation. Moscow’s current leader Vladimir Putin justifies the present threat by pointing the finger at NATO. It’s the alliance’s fault because it is considering Ukraine for accession, says Putin.

The threat is real and so far no one has succeeded in convincing Putin to stand down. Don’t accept Ukraine and Russia won’t invade, he claims. But nothing could be farther from the truth. For a millennia, Moscow has sought to conquer and assimilate the Ukrainian nation. Moscow needs Ukraine for its imperial glory.

As the noted American foreign policy strategist and Washington insider of Polish descent Zbigniew Brzezinski had pointed out: “It cannot be stressed enough that without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be an empire, but with Ukraine suborned and then subordinated, Russia automatically becomes an empire.”

That’s the long and the short of it. And that has been Moscow’s mission for 1,000 years.

Certainly, another Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn’t bode well for civilization as we know it. If Russia attacks Ukraine once more, the result will be devastating. In the past couple of weeks, government officials in Ukraine have commented that if Moscow’s army crosses the Ukrainian frontier, there will be blood on both sides. Some have warned that Russia’s latest invasion could lead to an unwanted global conflagration. A massive invasion of Ukraine by Russia would spread destruction around Europe and could even trigger World War Three, a Ukrainian government minister has warned.

Yuliia Laputina, the minister for veterans’ affairs – who previously served as general of Ukraine’s equivalent of MI5, has said Ukraine was ready to defend itself if Moscow launches a new invasion.

Asked by Sky whether there was a chance an invasion could lead to a third world war, Laputina said: "Yes. Yes. Because geopolitically, it looks like this is a possible scenario. So… we should pay attention to the Ukrainian issue because of the security of the continent. This – the spreading of war in case of Russian invasion to Ukraine – will be much wider than Ukraine.”

But the Ukrainian nation will not succumb and will pick up arms to fight and repel the Russian invaders as it has on numerous occasions in the past. Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova told NPR: “Let me tell you this. First, our army is very motivated, and it’s a battle-tested army. Second, we have 4,000 veterans in the country. And I’m positive that each of them, every man and woman, are ready to fight for their country. And, third, Ukrainian people in general clearly said – and the polls can prove it – that the majority of Ukrainians support Euro-Atlantic movement as a member of NATO. So, yes, we will fight for our independence. We will fight for our European future and for Ukraine to remain a sovereign country. This is about the civilizational choice for us.”

Indeed, a poll has showed that half of Ukrainians will form an opposition while a third will pick up arms and wage a guerrilla war against the aggressor just as the nation did during World War II in the ranks of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). This scenario should surely raise the eyebrows of leaders of the free world not to mention Moscow.

Asked whether she thought Ukraine would be able to resist a larger invasion by its much more powerful neighbor, Laputina, citing the determination of Ukrainians’ national resistance, said: “I think that it will be successful because even in the case of a real military invasion, the first step … may be successful for aggressors. But the next step will not be successful because we have a very big experience of national resistance.”

Russia has placed the world on a war footing.

The top diplomats of the Group of 7 have warned Russia of “massive consequences” and “severe costs” should it invade Ukraine or continue military aggressions near its border. Unfortunately, they haven’t yet revealed what “massive consequences” and “severe costs” mean. The foreign ministers for the G7 have urged Russia to pull back from the tense border standoff and made clear that any effort to negotiate or otherwise avoid confrontation would be welcome. “Any use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited under international law,” they said in a statement. “Russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost in response.”

NATO is hoping for the best but expecting the worse. The German newspaper Die Welt reported, citing a senior NATO representative, that a decision to put 40,000-strong NATO Response Force on high alert was made by the North Atlantic Council because of the buildup of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine. Additionally, the level of combat readiness of the special forces and logistics services has been increased, and the deployment time of the joint task force of 6,500 soldiers, also known as the NATO Spearhead Force, has been reduced from seven to five days.

NATO is also considering sending additional troops to Romania and Bulgaria to counter Russia. According to Der Spiegel sources, this initiative was voiced by the Supreme Commander of NATO joint forces in Europe, Gen. Tod Waters, during a closed video conference with alliance partners last week. NATO plans to extend its Enhanced Forward Presence, with four multinational battalion-size battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on a rotational basis, Waters said.

Fortunately, the free word understands that Russia alone is the guilty instigator of this war.

The former captive nations of Russian subjugation are justifiably clamoring for the free world to support Ukraine politically and militarily as they fear for their independence. Lithuania has even requested American Javelin missiles for itself just in case Russia crosses its border. Lithuanian authorities said they are ready to deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine, and, according to LRT, Minister of National Defense of Lithuania Arvydas Anušauskas said “We need to support Ukraine with all means, and Lithuania is ready for this, which includes the delivery of lethal weapons.”

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas observed to CNBC that the only way to see another EU-Russia summit would be if the Kremlin gives Crimea back to Ukraine. “If we are stepping toward Russia in this regard, and forgetting all the things that we said in 2014, then we are weak because we are stepping away from what we said,” Kallas told CNBC.

In Washington, DC, numerous senators and congressmen have called on the White House in individual letters as well as joint resolutions to increase America’s military support for Ukraine. Sen. Robert Portman (R-OH), among others, said: “I think it would be a grave mistake if Putin were to decide to invade again and I think this time he would meet a very different and more capable resistance. My hope is that in the next several days we’ll be able to continue to send those strong messages through a vote on the National Defense Authorization Bill, but also in other ways to let Russia know in no uncertain terms of the severe sanctions that would accompany any kind of invasion.” 

The free world must understand why it has been called “free world.” It must appreciate that being a friend, ally and strategic partner of Ukraine and the Ukrainian nation, which has fought for everything that it has achieved even as it borders its greatest enemy Russia, mean more than just mere words. The 1,000-year-old aspiration of a civilized people to become independent and then preserve it in the face of numerous enemies over many centuries cannot be demeaned and quelled even by purported allies’ betrayal. There will be a great deal of blood that the free world will be responsible for as Ukraine continues to fight for its freedom and democratic future against Russian aggression and subjugation. Ukraine’s divine right to its existence, independence and sovereignty cannot by violated by friends’ disloyalty or enemies’ invasions.

The onus of protecting and defending Ukraine rests with the United States. It is Washington’s responsibility to preserve peace and its responsibility is the greatest of all because the nations of the world trust it to make a good peace. Indeed, the remnants of that belief still remain in the post-Afghanistan era. And among those who naively or not still trust America are 45 million Ukrainians in their native, besieged Ukraine and about 25 million Ukrainians abroad, including Ukrainian Americans.

Mr. President, we call on you to stand firmly with the Ukrainian nation and Ukraine in their time of need. In return, you can be sure of Ukrainian Americans’ steadfast support in this mission. Ukraine mustn’t be lost on your watch.

President Biden Blinked First and Turned into Chamberlain

Ukrainians around the world – and probably peoples of the former captive nations – were hoping against hope that President Biden would demonstrate strength, conviction and loyalty in defending Ukraine against Russian terrorism and invasion.

That was not to be. Biden on December 7 came virtually eye to eye with Moscow’s führer Putin and the American commander in chief blinked first. Munich 1938 repeated itself in December 2021 with the White House favorably listening to the possibility to appeasing Moscow.

According to the Associated Press and other media, Washington has been caught supporting the idea of perhaps arm twisting Kyiv into ceding Ukrainian land to Russia to quench its aggressive appetite for re-subjugating Ukraine. This has been the goal of Moscow for the past 1,000 years though the Ukrainian nation has bravely fought off Russia’s armies and solidified independence for three decades only to raise again its armed forces to defend against Russian invaders.

“Administration officials have suggested that the US will press Ukraine to formally cede a measure of autonomy to eastern Ukrainian lands now controlled by Russia-backed separatists who rose up against Kyiv in 2014. An undefined ‘special status’ for those areas was laid out in an ambiguous, European-brokered peace deal in 2015, but it has never taken hold,” reported the Associated Press and other news outlets today.

With that kind of offer on the table, Moscow doesn’t have to demand anything. Its position now will be to let the Americans trip over themselves as they expand on this suggestion or walk it back.

Some analysts revealed that for Biden the challenge will be to encourage Kyiv to accept some of the facts on the ground in eastern Ukraine, without appearing to cave to Putin — a perception that could embolden the Russian leader and unleash a fresh line of condemnations by Republicans as Biden’s popularity is already in decline. Truthfully, the cat is out of the bag with this disclosure. Even Steven Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, suggested that Ukraine may be asked to make some step forward on topics such as allowing the Russian-occupied Donbas to control its own health care, police and schools, he said.

Biden has offered US participation in negotiations alongside Europeans, not just to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine but to address Putin’s larger strategic objections to NATO expanding membership and building military capacity ever closer to Russia's borders. These meetings would reportedly address the future of Russia’s concern relative to NATO expansion, “and whether or not we could work out any accommodations as it relates to bringing down the temperature in Ukraine’s east,” Biden said.

That premise is wholly wrong and perfidious. It places the onus on Ukraine for mollifying Russian demands. No special status, no more discussions. Negotiations have resulted in nothing except wasting time and effort which contributed to civilian and military deaths and infrastructure destruction. And Ukraine is the victim, not the perpetrator. Ukraine was violated by Moscow and its people have been killed, maimed and imprisoned by Russian soldiers and terrorists. That’s like asking a rape victim to participate in a compromise with the rapist.

Everything that is being discussed today, every idea and word, conjures up a distasteful compromise that no sovereign nation can be asked to accept. The only point worthy of talks is when are the Russian armies, tanks and artillery packing up and evacuating back to their Moskovy. If Washington doesn’t endorse than issue 100%, then it is not worthy of being a friend, ally or strategic partner of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Moscow is still threatening Ukraine with swift and bloody reprisals if its armed forces attempt to re-capture and liberate Donbas, surely a righteous mission of all subjugated nations. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, called media reports about Russia allegedly preparing an attack on Ukraine “a lie” and charged that Ukraine is to blame for escalating tensions in war-torn Donbas, by deploying new weapons there. He warned Kyiv against using force in the area. “Any provocations by Ukrainian authorities to settle the Donbas problems with force will be suppressed,” he said.

Ukraine’s last great hope is the US House of Representatives, which approved on December 7 the 2022 annual defense spending bill that includes $300 million in aid for Ukraine. As part of the bill, the Ukrainian armed forces would receive $300 million in 2022 under the Security Assistance Initiative. This includes $75 million for lethal weapons. The package is $50 million greater than Biden had requested earlier. 

The only consolation the White House could offer Ukraine, whose President Zelenskyy still believes in America’s undying support for his country’s independence and sovereignty, is Biden continuing to warn Putin that Moscow would face “economic consequences like none he’s ever seen” if it invaded Ukraine and that an attack would prompt the US to reinforce a presence in NATO countries and provide support to Ukraine. However, nothing more. Asked if he would rule out troops on the ground in Ukraine, Biden said that is “not on the table.”

“We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies if they were to attack under Article 5, it’s a sacred obligation,” Biden was quoted as saying. “That obligation does not extend to NATO – I mean to Ukraine. But it would depend upon what rest of the NATO countries were willing to do as well. But the idea that the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not on, in the cards right now. What will happen is there will be severe consequences.”

Those unspecified consequences never have and never will faze Putin.

The White House and President Biden must appreciate that being a friend, ally and strategic partner of Ukraine, which has fought for everything that it has achieved as it borders its greatest enemy Russia mean more than just mere words. The 1,000-year-old aspiration of a civilized people to become independent and then preserve it in the face of numerous enemies over many centuries cannot be demeaned and quelled even by purported allies’ betrayal. There will be a great deal of blood as Ukraine continues to fight against Russian aggression. Ukraine’s divine right to its existence, independence and sovereignty cannot by violated by friends’ disloyalty or enemies’ invasions.

The free world should take to heart the words of Anne O’Hare McCormick, an English-American journalist, New York Times correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner, who wrote a long time ago: “But the responsibility of the United States is the greatest of all, for the nations trust her to make a good peace.”

Indeed, the remnants of that belief still remain in the post-Afghanistan era. And among those who naively or not still trust America are 45 million Ukrainians in their native, besieged Ukraine and about 25 million Ukrainians abroad.

President Biden, shed Chamberlain’s waistcoat and be a mensch!

Moscow Turns back Calendar to 1938

It’s looking like 1938 again in Europe.

Then Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany were threatening the world with invasion, war, repression and captivity, Germany was quickly remilitarizing, and neighboring countries were targeted for invasion and occupation under the guise of protecting ethnic Germans.

The fainthearted free world, led by Neville Chamberlain, Britain’s prime minister, met with Herr Fuhrer and heard his proposal of turning over the Sudeten in Czechoslovakia to the Nazis in exchange for his turning off the German war machine and peace in Europe.

Believing Hitler and excited by his negotiating skills, Chamberlain returned home and declared: “My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.”

Twelve months later Hitler launched his war, which claimed as its first casualty Poland.

Today Moscow is following in the Nazis goosesteps and threatening not only its neighbors but also distant countries. It is rattling its nuclear-tipped sabers. It has invaded Ukraine and occupied the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea and Donbas in the east. The fearful free world, led by the United States, is warning the Kremlin and threatening severe retributions if it escalates the war.

The latest intelligence estimates report that there are some 175,000 Russian troops as well as attendant artillery and armor on Ukraine’s border, poised to make a multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine. Fortunately, contemporary surveillance technology spotted them before it was too late compared with 1968 when no one saw a quarter of a million Warsaw Pact troops until they stormed into Czechoslovakia to destroy the national Prague Spring movement.

Who can blame Ukrainians for fearing and even expecting an escalation of Russia’s nearly eight-year war against them? Moscow did it before and is bound to do it again. Its aggression and belligerence have been predicted by the leaders of the captive nations’ independence movements since World War Two. No one listened.

A U.S. intelligence report and the Ukrainian defense minister warned of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine as soon as next month. According to the German newspaper Bild, citing its sources among high-ranking military officials, Putin is preparing to seize two-thirds of Ukraine’s territory in early next year.

According to Bild’s sources, Russia’s “plan maximum” for the war against Ukraine “lies in Putin’s drawer, and he has not yet decided whether it will be carried out.” Nonetheless, according to Bild, the buildup of Russian troops, which started in April, indicates that the Kremlin seems to be inclined to go ahead with the attack on Ukraine.

One military official told Bild that in January-February, when Putin is expected to give an order, which matches the season when Russian invaded and occupied Crimea almost eight years ago, the Russian military will “simultaneously attack from northern Crimea, through the occupied territories in the east and from the north.” However, other NATO insiders are confident that the attack could happen in three independent stages and that could certainly signal the end of independent Ukraine for at least this generation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week met face-to-face with his Russian counterpart to demand Russia pull back troops from the border with Ukraine. The United States and other western countries, as well as global organizations, fearing that Moscow could invade Ukraine, have threatened it with the toughest sanctions yet if it launches an attack. Indeed, they have added a range of superlative adjectives to the sanctions and other retributions that they’re proposing.

Worries that Russia would invade Ukraine or seek to undermine the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have dominated Blinken’s travels last week to meet with European allies.

Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had met on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Stockholm, Sweden. “The United States and our allies and partners are deeply concerned by evidence that Russia has made plans for significant aggressive moves against Ukraine, including efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within and large-scale military operations,” Blinken told reporters.

On Friday, Moscow finally revealed its demand. No NATO aspirations for Ukraine. That’s the red line. Kyiv can’t cross it or else. Putin will seek binding guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine during a planned but not yet announced call with President Biden.

Biden has said his Administration was “putting together what I believe to be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do” in positioning troops near Ukraine.

The NATO chief and numerous former U.S. diplomats and security officials say Russia’s demand that Biden rule out NATO membership for Ukraine, a former Soviet republic eager to ally with the West, is a nonstarter.

“There’s absolutely no way in the world that that Russian position will make any progress,” John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, optimistically said Friday. “It’s basically a rhetorical point for Moscow.” More likely, he said, were U.S. assurances that Western military assistance to Ukraine be for defensive purposes only.

Biden, Blinken and others have pledged to make it “very, very difficult” for Moscow to take military action in Ukraine as U.S. intelligence officials determined that Russian planning is underway for a possible military offensive. Blinken warned of unspecified “serious consequences” if Moscow decided to pursue confrontation.

“We don't know President Putin’s intent. We don’t know if he’s made a decision to take renewed, aggressive action against Ukraine, but what we do know is that he's putting in place the capacity to do so and to do so on short, on short notice,” Blinken told Euronews after his meeting, adding that concern was widespread among European partners.

“What’s most important for Russia to understand is that actions have consequences. Those consequences are real. They’re not in Russia’s interests, and having a conflict is in no one’s interest,” he noted.

Word has it that in addition to ministerial meetings, President Biden may personally meet with Putin.

It’s not encouraging that Blinken had said the United States doesn’t know what’s on Putin’s mind but hopefully this diplomatic jousting will force Moscow to believe the threats and stand down.

The x-captive nations of Poland and Lithuania have come to Ukraine’s support by insisting on new sanctions against Russia in response to its aggressive ambitions, according to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Polish and Lithuanian leaders confirmed support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in a common declaration, published on the 30th anniversary of their recognition of Ukraine’s independence. The three presidents referred to the decision as “an important milestone on the way to a full-fledged reunification of Europe.” Duda, Nausėda and Zelenskyy, who met at the virtual Lublin Triangle summit, assured each other of their mutual support and solidarity in the face of the migration crisis, orchestrated by Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko.

Duda and Nausėda also “called upon the international community to step up sanctions on the Russian Federation over its ongoing aggression against Ukraine” and “urged the Kremlin to deescalate the situation by withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian borders and temporarily occupied territories.”

This expression of support among x-captive nations against Russian aggression and demonstration of multilateral solidarity is vital to force Moscow to recall its armed forces from its border with Ukraine and to show the world that if it doesn’t come to Ukraine’s defense – and Moscow’s other former colonies – they will do so themselves. The x-captive nations unquestionably know what it means to be in Moscow’s prison of nations. And the Lublin Triangle, which is a military and political alliance of the x-captive nations, is exactly such a distinct alternative.

Consequently, the world has returned back to the future. The battle lines have been drawn. Washington and the Biden Administration are honor bound not to agree to any of Moscow’s demands and thereby betray Ukraine and the other former subjugated nations. Surrendering to Moscow now would give Russia the free hand it wants to reorganize the world in its own image. The only way to save peace in our time is to subdue Russia and vanquish its aggressive intentions – even if that means boots on the ground.

No Munich Appeasement 2021!

As Ukrainians Mark Holodomor Murders, So Does President Biden

As the global Ukrainian community together with its international friends are paying tribute this month to the 7 million Ukrainian men, women and children who were mercilessly starved to death by Moscow, they were joined by President Biden with his feeble commemorative remarks.

In 1932-33, the Russian junta led by Joseph Stalin deliberately decided to further their diabolical mission of annihilating the Ukrainian nation by forcibly starving to death 7 million people. They sent their punitive units to Ukraine to confiscate anything that could be converted into sustenance such as wheat – the people’s natural and ubiquitous crop. Reports from Ukraine also attested to the seizure of livestock. The armed guards didn’t overlook a single green leaf on the trees. If Ukrainians didn’t submit to the orders, they faced summary execution.

“Each November we solemnly honor and pay tribute to the millions of innocent Ukrainians who suffered and perished during the Holodomor –‘death by hunger’ – in 1932 and 1933,” the President wrote. 

It’s a shame that President Biden decided not to cite the universally accepted figure of 7 million victims of that historical Russian crime against humanity. It wasn’t an agricultural accident or a meteorological aberration. This was a conscious plan to deprive men, women and children of food until they bloated and died. The President’s statement seemed as if he wanted to say something to soothe Ukrainians’ grief while not upsetting the Kremlin.

Recently, I came across a similar discussion among Jews, who encountered disagreement with the figure of 6 million Holocaust victims.

In the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, I read the following: “After reading hundreds of books and articles about the Holocaust, and even perusing many documents that have never been published as part of his work as the director of the Elie Wiesel Archive at Boston University, Rappel (a Jewish archivist – ID) realized that despite the research controversy regarding the precise number of victims, ‘in our consciousness the number remains 6 million.’ …

“About 15 years later, during Eichmann’s trial, chief prosecutor Gideon Hausner said that ‘In the consciousness of the nation the number 6 million has become sanctified.’ But he added: ‘It’s not so simple to prove that. We did not use this number in any official document, but it became sanctified.’ Now, thanks to Rappel, historical research had added another layer for understanding the context for the number.”

Indeed the number of Holocaust victims became “sanctified” in Jewish and everyone’s minds. Regardless of what was, is or will be said, that’s the number of killed Jews. Question it and you become an evil denier. We, Ukrainians, should insist on the same kind of regard for the victims of the Holodomor. We should not allow Presidents, researchers and others to discount the number of dead to mere millions. We grew up with the figure of 7 million Ukrainian men, women and children starved to death by Russia in 1932-33 just for being Ukrainian. That figure of 7 million must be sanctified in our and everyone’s minds. Deny the number of victims and you deny the Holodomor.

I won’t disparage President Biden’s decision to blame Stalin’s regime for the murders rather than Russia as the embodiment of the nation’s hatred for Ukrainians. Assigning culpability to the man is easy because everyone has done that. Assigning guilt to a national mentality requires knowledge and understanding that the evil mission has existed for a millennia.

The President also pointed out that “The Ukrainian people overcame the horror of the Holodomor, demonstrating their spirit and resilience, and eventually creating a free and democratic society.” None of which, Mr. President, occurred without numerous wars of liberation against Moscow and other foreign invaders, miles of barbed wire fences and rivers of blood.

“As we remember the pain and the victims of the Holodomor, the United States also reaffirms our commitment to the people of Ukraine today and our unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he concluded.

As Russia continues its nearly eight-year war against Ukraine, which in reality is the continuation of all of its acts of aggression over the centuries, Ukrainians everywhere are grateful for America’s “unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”