In late 2013, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to crush Ukrainians’ dream of joining the civilized world by backing out of an association deal with the European Union. Since then, Ukrainians have been fighting for their European dream, first on the barricades in Kyiv, and then on the war front in the Donbas.
The war with Russia is not just about the technicalities of the association agreement. It is about a civilizational choice between being part of a murderous totalitarian empire, or part of the free world.
Three years after Yanukovych’s downfall, billionaire oligarch Victor Pinchuk is proposing that Ukraine abandon its dream and drop plans to join NATO and the European Union. He says that Ukraine should appease the aggressor by recognizing its annexation of Crimea de facto, if not de jure, and agreeing to elections in the Russian-occupied Donbas, which would legitimize the Kremlin’s puppets there.
Pinchuk’s plan is not just a betrayal of those whose blood was spilled during the EuroMaidan Revolution of 2013-14 and the 10,000 who lost their lives in the war instigated by Russia. It is also utterly naive and illogical, despite its professed pragmatism and realism.
First: any deal with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, a cynical and shameless liar, is not worth the paper it is written on. No amount of concessions or agreements will guarantee that Russia will cease its war against Ukraine and will not proceed to grab another piece of Ukrainian territory.
Second: as Benjamin Franklin said, those who sacrifice liberty for security will have neither. Abandoning the principles of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its uncompromising opposition to Russian aggression for the sake of pragmatic considerations entails the nation becoming morally bankrupt.
And if Ukraine gives up its moral integrity, it will only invite more bullying from the Kremlin.
Historically, appeasement has never worked.
Third: Ukraine’s realism should consist not in kneeling before the Kremlin but in becoming stronger in the face of aggression: further bolstering its military, building a sustainable economic base for the war effort through free-market reforms, introducing the rule of law, and driving out a corrupt, irresponsible and traitorous elite.
When Ukraine becomes stronger, it will not have to bow either to Putin or to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Neither will it have to beg for admission to the free world – it will have earned a place by right.
