Not only the Western world, but China, India and other major powers need to emerge from a gas-induced slumber and apply significant diplomatic and economic sanctions to force the Kremlin leader into retreat.
The United States continues to provide only minimal help, even though large cash injections and military aid are desperately needed. The same goes for the European Union, whose 28 members seem all too willing to sacrifice Ukraine if it means making a euro or two in Moscow.
At least in his April 17 live television performance, Putin revealed his true opinion of Ukraine – that it is not a sovereign nation and that many of its territories, including Crimea and southeastern Ukraine, belong to Russia. We hope that all of Ukraine’s 45 million citizens finally get the message, so they at last join the battle to save the nation.
The tactics used to rescue Ukraine are going to require great skill. Our guess is that the Russian Federation has penetrated Ukraine’s military and security services so thoroughly that Putin is able to stay three steps ahead. The surrender of some Ukrainian armed forces to Russian-backed soldiers, as well as the loss of weaponry, are certainly reasons why the United States and EU remain reluctant to help militarily.
But the truth is that Ukraine possesses an indefatigable fighting spirit, and if its citizens are given the means to defend themselves and their nation, they will emerge victorious.
Serious moral and material support has yet to come from the West. The immorality of China and India, whose leaders refuse to sanction or even openly condemn Russia, suggests that help won’t come from the East either.
Part of Putin’s game plan is to cripple the current leadership in their quest to expose the crimes of Russia in Ukraine, as well as those of disgraced former President Viktor Yanukovych and other deposed top officials who have found sanctuary in Russia.
Putin has been acting like Ukraine’s pimp for years, weakening Ukraine by supporting corrupt schemes – most blatantly, through predatory gas deals that keep Ukrainian politicians like ex-President Viktor Yanukovych dependent on the Kremlin leader, pursuing private gain rather than national interests.
The West must ensure the ultimate success of the EuroMaidan Revolution to help ensure that justice prevails in Ukraine.
Lidia Wolanskyj, a freelance writer who founded the now-defunct Eastern Economist, put it well:
“Right now, we can see the depth of destruction that Yanukovych and his cohort brought upon the country called Ukraine. Yes, he siphoned billions of dollars from the state and private business. But money can be recovered, an economy can be revived. Yanukovych went much further: he destroyed the legal system, the electoral system, the judiciary, he starved and hollowed out the army, he subverted the law enforcement system, the security service and special forces, he gutted and perverted the education system, he emptied the treasury and reserves, and collaborated with the Kremlin in a massive plan to undermine, overtake and invade the country. It wasn’t just about stealing. The result of his four-year poisonous rule is like a cancer that has overtaken the entire body of the country and metastasized. Can we find a cure or at least a treatment in time?”
The answer to that will be yes, if all patriotic Ukrainians join the battle and are supported by freedom-loving people around the world.
