The infamy that would be abandoning Ukraine and the effects that its defeat could have

@ElentirENG ES 12·16·2023 · 7:03 0

It has not yet been two years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and we already have some alarming signs in the West.

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The political struggle in the US and its effects on Ukraine

A few days ago, the Ukrainian president visited the US on an unsuccessful trip to ask for more help to confront Russia. His request was met with a political fight between Democrats and Republicans over border issues, in front of which the war in Ukraine seems to have taken a backseat, in part because of the positions that have been taken by some Republican politicians, who have been in favor of disengaging from that war for some time.

Helping Ukraine is a matter of principle

It would not be the first time that a part of the American right adopted that position. It already happened at the beginning of World War II, when the Nazis and their allies took advantage of the policy of non-interventionism promoted by some Republican politicians. The US should have learned from that experience and subsequent events, since the delay in taking part in that war ended up benefiting the Axis and facilitating the genocide committed by the nazis.

I am not leftist. It especially pains me that there are people on the right-wing giving in to Russian propaganda because their ideological positions are similar to mine, but on this issue we cannot agree. Putin is a threat to the security of the free world just as Hitler was and the concern of the two major parties in the United States should be to agree to stop the Russian dictator. The maximum reason to invoke in this case is purely moral: Ukraine fights for its freedom and independence against a tyrant and turning its back on the Ukrainians would be an infamy, only comparable to turning its back on those They fought against Hitler's tyranny.

The effects that a Ukrainian defeat would have for the West

But if principles no longer matter, if our defense of freedom and national sovereignty is mere rhetoric and remains subordinated to a national selfishness, too often confused with patriotism, at least We should think about the effects that a Ukrainian defeat could have for the West. If that country is conquered by Russia, if Putin reaches the borders of Poland and Romania, we will have the enemy at our doors and encouraged to attack again given the success of his aggression against Ukraine.

Let us think, on the other hand, about the message we would send to our allies. Abandoning Ukraine now, when our involvement in this war is limited to providing military aid without sending a single soldier, would encourage Russia to think that NATO would never go to war if the next invaded some of its smallest members, such as Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. Putin might even think that many citizens of the EU and the US would never support going to war in case Russia invaded larger countries like Finland or Poland, countries that for many are very far away not only in geographical terms, but also in terms of solidarity between allies.

The effects in Asia, Africa and South America and their repercussions

Beyond the consequences that a Ukrainian defeat may have in the face of new invasions, a Russia strengthened by a victory in Ukraine could initiate new avenues of conflict in Asia, Africa and South America. Putin already has among his allies a good part of the American countries that have far-left governments. In Africa, Russian influence has grown increasingly, increasing the risk that Russia's puppets on that continent could use immigration as a geopolitical weapon, as they have been doing Putin did with his puppet Aleksandr Lukashenko in Belarus, launching constant waves of illegal immigrants against Poland and Lithuania.

A strengthened Russia and already with a large presence in Africa could create a similar conflict in three southern European countries: Spain, Italy and Greece, where illegal immigration from Africa and the Middle East is already a serious security problem. Right now, EU efforts to contain jihadism in the Sahel are collapsing in Mali precisely because of Russian pressure, and the problems caused by Putin's agents in that region will eventually arrive to European shores in the form of illegal immigrants.

“You don't negotiate with criminals, you have to fight criminals”

For some time now, a part of the right has made the mistake of believing that what is happening in Ukraine is not our problem: of course it is. The Ukrainian people are heroically resisting against a power that is not only a threat to their country, but to the entire West. A strong Russia would have Europe at its feet and could generate pernicious instability, especially by resorting to its far-left political puppets.

But Putin's useful fools are fewer in number and less dangerous than the centrist and progressive politicians who already made things easier for Putin before the invasion of Ukraine, as pointed out by the then prime minister Polish Mateusz Morawiecki last year, reproaching Germany and France for their eagerness to negotiate with Putin: "you don't negotiate with criminals, you have to fight criminals", Morawiecki stated, and added: "Would you negotiate with Hitler, with Stalin, with Pol Pot?" We should have his words well engraved in our memory.

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Image: UP9 / Wikimedia.