JRL NEWSWATCH: “How Ukraine can break the stalemate” – Washington Post
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A Washington Post editorial addresses the war in Ukraine and how Western allies can impact how it unfolds.
“… Ukraine has opened a corridor for shipping grain, pushing back Russian naval forces with missile and drone strikes. … Ukrainian forces have exacted an enormous toll on Russian armor and personnel. In battles for … Avdiivka … Russian casualties hit 900 on one day. Still, there is a sense the war has stalled. … The … pace of Western arms deliveries has frustrated [] Zelensky. Ukraine rightly fears it has been given enough to survive … not enough to win, in part because of [] Biden’s concerns about escalation …. Congress can boost Ukrainian morale and military performance [with] a large economic and military aid package …. [T]here remains a sizable majority in both chambers for such a package. …”
The editorial also argues that the United States and allies should further efforts to enforce a G7-imposed $60 oer barrel cap on Russian oil, including sanctions on parties associated with a shadow fleet of tankers developed by Russian oil companies and traders.
China and India are Russia’s biggest oil customers and do not honor the G7 cap, yet they already receive a price discount from Russia.
Meanwhile, the Russian parliament envisions a 70 percent increase in Russian defense spending.
A real danger for Ukraine is that Putin is anticipating an even longer-term conflict, willing to keep sacrificing Russian lives and wealth, hoping that Ukraine will suffer serious attrition while the West loses patience and weakens its resolve.
The editorial argues that, even if Ukraine reaches a point where they need to negotiate with the Kremlin, the West still needs to help set up Ukraine in the best possible position to survive the conflict as a growing European democracy.
“… Ukraine [at some point] may face the … need[] to negotiate …. [T]he West should give Ukraine the leverage to drive the best possible bargain …. preserving Ukraine’s chance to survive and grow as a thriving European democracy, not a vassal of the Kremlin. …”