It would be easy, I think, to put what’s going on in Ukraine on the back burner. I mean, look at what we are dealing with here at home. A school shooting. Record high gas prices. Inflation. No baby formula. The list seems endless.
So, what’s going on in Ukraine is not the lead story on the news right now. That doesn’t mean however, we are forgetting what’s happening with this war.
President Biden writes an opinion piece in today’s New York Times. He explains where the United States now stands in the Russia/Ukraine war.
President Biden says this: “America’s goal is straightforward: We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.”
The President also explained what we won’t be doing. “We do not seek a war between NATO and Russia. As much as I disagree with Mr. Putin, and find his actions an outrage, the United States will not try to bring about his ouster in Moscow. So long as the United States or our allies are not attacked, we will not be directly engaged in this conflict, either by sending American troops to fight in Ukraine or by attacking Russian forces. We are not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders. We do not want to prolong the war just to inflict pain on Russia.”
Russia thought this war would last only days. It is now in its fourth month. There are no signs of it ending anytime soon either.
As badly as the war has gone for Russia, it is making progress in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. New York Times reports that Russia now controls 75 percent of the area.
In his essay, President Biden says the U.S. will provide Ukrainians with more advanced rocket systems and munitions that will enable them to better strike key targets on the battlefield.
What Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t consider in all this is the resolve of the Ukrainian people. He didn’t expect the courage of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
President Biden writes about that too: “My principle throughout this crisis has been “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” I will not pressure the Ukrainian government — in private or public — to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so.”
President Biden ends his essay in the New York Times with this: “Americans will stay the course with the Ukrainian people because we understand that freedom is not free. That’s what we have always done whenever the enemies of freedom seek to bully and oppress innocent people, and it is what we are doing now. Vladimir Putin did not expect this degree of unity or the strength of our response. He was mistaken. If he expects that we will waver or fracture in the months to come, he is equally mistaken.”
Things are difficult right now. In Ukraine. In the United States. As I read the entire essay by President Biden, I have to believe better days are coming.