The United States and the European Union, especially Germany, should make a decision on Ukraine, different from the current one, which Russian President Vladimir Putin sees as weakness and continues to commit aggression, reports GHN based on Ukrinform.
This is stated in an article published in U.S. newspaper Forbes.
"There can be no diplomatic solution based on weakness. Putin will come to the negotiating table only when the economic sanctions and mounting casualties threaten his hold on power. Until then, he will insist on a federalized Ukraine that gives Russian-occupied provinces veto power over Kiev and the right to intervene anywhere in the world where Russians need protection," reads the article.
The author insists that the United States and Europe "must realize that the only way to curb Russian aggression is to create a strong Ukraine that will serve as a beacon of good governance and economic success to those countries and regions under Russian tutelage." Such a Ukraine is Vladimir Putin's greatest nightmare, reads the article.
A strong Ukraine could mount a formidable defense against further Russian aggression and raise the Russian casualty count for a country that has been told its young men are not involved in the Ukraine conflict. "Ukraine cannot inflict these casualties without anti tank weapon and other modern weapons that its opponents possess," the author says.
According to the author, if Europe and the U.S. are content with frozen conflicts that threaten to boil over at any time, then they should continue their policy of keeping Ukraine weak. If they want to see a real solution, they should provide Ukraine the weapons to defend themselves and provide Ukraine with the financial means (such as a Marshall Plan as proposed by Anders Aslund).