By Eric Vallen
As Russia’s war in Ukraine comes to pass the two month mark, diplomatic and military efforts on both ends have seen stagnation. Death tolls may continue to rise, but no major victories have been had. Russian troops have pulled out of northern Kievan suburbs, and have lessened attacks in the east around Kharkiv, but it matters not. Russia leaves war torn lands, but Ukraine has no gain. Any supposedly perceptible gain in the past few weeks, on either side, has meant nothing.
Since mid-March, diplomatic efforts between the two combatants have ceased. The means and ends to this war simply do not match with only Russia and Ukraine in the picture. As of now, only one of them will stand in the end. With this notion, the world has recognized that this war isn’t an isolated event, Russia’s onslaught of Ukraine is a geopolitical watershed.
Both combatants are backed into a corner, but Russia has options. It can annihilate Ukraine, or count its losses and accept the reality that it’s power will continue to wane for decades to come. However, considering Putin’s claims over the past two months, Russia won’t back down.
The current stagnation is the calm before the storm, and as of now, those who must weather the storm are receiving “thinking of you, get better soon” letters in the mail. Now, as I write this on April 12, 2022, Russia’s offensive could start any moment.
But the west is held fast in stagnation. Yes, NATO has of course beefed up their own borders, but what of it? If the west proceeds to set international precedent that it will not interfere beyond its borders, that can only spell destruction for the world. Stagnation now, out of all times, will only allow millions of people to suffer at the hands of malevolent geopolitical bodies. In both world wars, the democratic powers of the west allowed totalitarian states to bully their neighbors, vying for peace, prolonging it at all costs. Yet that only secures the inevitability of war. As of now, we are seeing the exact same process taking place. All of the west’s actions are largely ineffective. Sending weapons, but not the world-class personnel to use them. Sanctions, but not the literal and figurative power to back them. NATO has to take off the blindfold of peace, peek its head out of its shell, and realize the situation at hand, before it slips out of hand.