JRL NEWSWATCH: “Europe — but Not NATO — Should Send Troops to Ukraine” – Foreign Affairs: Alex Crowther, Jahara Matisek, and Phillips P. O’Brien
“To Halt Russia’s Advance, Kyiv Needs More Boots on the Ground”
“… The debate in the U.S. Congress over … military aid to Ukraine has been a debacle. … [M]onths of dithering in Washington have dismayed Europeans and given Moscow hope that Western resolve … is cracking. Russian forces — bolstered by equipment from China, Iran, and North Korea — have taken advantage … by stepping up … attacks on civilians and nonmilitary infrastructure. … As Russian forces speed up their advance, the possibility that they could break through Ukrainian defenses along the eastern front and challenge Ukrainian control of Kharkiv or even Kyiv presents Europe with a security threat it cannot ignore. A Russian victory in Ukraine would vindicate … Putin’s revisionist ambitions and belief in the inherent weakness of the West. It would enable the Kremlin to keep Russia on a war footing — an all-of-society approach to conquest that European countries would be unable to match. There is no reason to expect Putin to stop with Ukraine; he has already declared that all former Soviet republics should be returned to Russia. The Baltic states could be next, and Finland and Poland — which were both principalities in the pre-Soviet Russian Empire — could follow. By threatening to send troops, European countries are trying to disrupt this worrying trajectory. … Ukraine … needs help … that European countries are able and increasingly willing to provide. Rather than force Russian escalation, a European troop presence would be more likely to prevent the conflict from spreading and prevent further damage to Ukraine’s economy and infrastructure. European leaders … can and should decide for themselves how best to ensure the continent’s freedom and security. Europe must do what it takes to safeguard its own future, and that starts with making sure Ukraine wins this war. …”