JRL NEWSWATCH: “What Does Victory Look Like in Ukraine?” – Foreign Policy/ Kathleen J. McInnis
“Ukrainians differ on what would keep their nation safe from Russia.”
“… Zelensky … has promulgated a 10-point plan …. [T]alking to … people from around the region, other views surfaced. [Some possibilities assessed have included:] A frozen conflict. … To the Ukrainians, a frozen conflict means allowing Russia to continue brutalizing … and … invites Russia to attack Ukraine again later …. Every inch of Ukrainian territory is taken back. Almost every Ukrainian stated that this was the minimum necessary requirement for peace. … The Russian regime is overthrown — not just Putin. … Ukraine is a thriving democracy. … What does victory look like to the United States? … $24 billion is a big number, but displacing entrenched Russian defenses was never going to be … cheap …. Do we really want to tempt fate, and the Russians, into creeping into NATO territory … draw[ing] the U.S. into the conflict … ? … [Meanwhile,] China [reputedly] is watching … to gauge [the situation] … [with an eye towards] Taiwan. … Economies need stability in order to prosper …. [D]o we want to live in a world wherein an authoritarian state can massacre its democratic neighbors? Ukrainian children are being separated from their families and deported to Russia. … The line must be held, and the line is now in Ukraine. … [V]ictory … starts with a free Ukraine.”