Etiket arşivi: Ukraine war

Ukraine’s Victory Plan

October 21, 2024

On September 26, 2024, Presidents Biden and Zelensky met in Washington. The latter presented to his host, Ukraine’s plan to achieve “victory over Russia” and President Biden reaffirmed his determination to provide Kyiv with the support it needs to win. The same day, he also directed the Department of Defense to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding that had been appropriated for Ukraine by the end of his term in office.[i]

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The West in Disarray

October 14, 2024

The November 5, US presidential election is only three weeks away. On January 20, 2025, the new US president will take office. Thus there will be a six-week period of transition. Then the new president will form her/his government and get a closer look at the challenges ahead. In brief, the new US administration’s fully taking the reins will take time.

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Türkiye’s Support for Ukraine and Membership in BRICS

September 16, 2024

The year 2023 was a tough one for Ukraine. Its spring offensive failed. The US military aid started coming after months of delay. Mobilization became unpopular in Ukrainian society. In brief, it became increasingly clear that a Ukrainian victory against Russia was not in the cards.

Some Western observers presented the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian province of Kursk in early August 2024 as an important military achievement. In an article on September 5, Anatol Lieven said that while legally and morally justified, the attack has failed in all its objectives.[i] In brief, the battlefield developments of the past two years have not supported President Zelensky’s expectations of a future victory over Russia.

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NATO’s Washington Summit

July 15, 2024

In a post two weeks ago, I said that an assessment of NATO’s past 75 years must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and a second one on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. I concluded that the first chapter is a success story, the second an entirely different one.

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NATO’s 75th Anniversary

July 3, 2024

As the NATO Heads of State meetings start in Washington next week, many will look at the past and evaluate the Alliance’s performance in the past 75 years. In my view, such an assessment must have two principal chapters: One on NATO’s performance in providing security for the territory of its members, and a second on the consequences of its members’ individual and collective actions, and their impact on the global perception of NATO and the West. In my view, the first is a success story, the second an entirely different one as I will elaborate at the end.

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The Arduous Path to Peace in Ukraine

June 10, 2024

The past year has been a tough one for Ukraine. Its 2023 spring offensive failed. US military aid started coming after months of delay. Mobilization became unpopular in Ukrainian society. Children of Ukrainian migrants in Europe are experiencing schooling difficulties. By contrast, Russia has regained momentum.

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The Question of the Endgame in Ukraine

April 22, 2024

On February 26, 2024, President Macron, after hosting a meeting of 25 European leaders in Paris, said that there was “no consensus” on committing ground troops to the conflict in Ukraine but added, “Nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war.” In early March, during a visit to the Czech Republic, Mr. Macron urged Ukraine’s allies not to be “cowards” in supporting its fight against the Russian invasion. However, Germany, the UK, Spain, Poland, and Czechia immediately ruled out any suggestion that they might commit ground troops to Ukraine. So did Washington.

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2024: Another Challenging Year for the West

January 2, 2024

On May 7, 2021, China initiated a virtual discussion at the UN Security Council on the future of the Organization and the international order. 

In remarks to the Security Council, Secretary Blinken, after thanking China for the initiative, underlined respect for international commitments, particularly the legally binding ones such as the UN Charter, treaties and conventions, UN Security Council resolutions, international humanitarian law, and the rules and standards agreed to under the auspices of the World Trade Organization and numerous international standard-setting organizations.

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Looking Back at the Year 2023

December 18, 2023

For most of the past year, the war in Ukraine and Washington’s strategic competition with China dominated the global agenda. Then came the October 7 Hamas onslaught against Israel creating yet another maelstrom of uncertainty for the Middle East and beyond, leading me to say in an earlier post that at present Washington and its European allies are neither at war nor in peace. Today, Western countries do not have troops on the ground fighting in Ukraine, but they are deeply involved in the conflict providing Kyiv with huge sums of military assistance and military advice. They are not at war with Hamas, but they are politically involved. In brief, one may say with some exaggeration, that today Washington and its European allies are fighting a one-and-a-half war.

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