New Era In US And Crafting A Resolution To Russian Invasion In Ukraine – OpEd
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, the bloodiest full-spectrum war, has reached the most decisive point in history with the helm of new leadership in the United States.
In this war, the world witnessed many security deteriorations without recourse due to miscalculations, ignorance, and arrogance, leading to Armageddon. Even though Russia, as the aggressor, is responsible for this carnage, Ukraine and the West, led by the United States, are partly responsible for the global security deterioration. The Western strategy to use Ukraine to decimate Russia militarily has not only proven to be a disaster but also permanently changed the security landscape, creating a more dangerous security alliance against the free world, such as Russia- North Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty and Russia- Iran Strategic Partnership Treaty.
In this context, the West, led by the United States, clearly failed to understand the intricacies of complex warfighting without boots on the ground. They were unable to help Ukraine strategize its planning based on resources and restrictions, and, most importantly, did not pay any attention to designing an alternative to military actions to find a solution.
It is evident that there can be no military solution to this conflict, and the interested parties continue to ignore this fact and pursue the military option to defeat Russia, which led to a prolonged conflict. The West’s failure to define success in this conflict left Ukraine’s leadership in a quagmire. Moreover, Ukraine failed to design a strategy based on reality, which further entrenched this conflict. This is one of the classic examples of reinforcing failure by continuing to pursue military options in a stalemate and leaving the fate of the rest of the world in the hands of the two most dangerous persons: President Putin, who threatened to use nuclear weapons, and President Zelensky, who did not have a winning strategy and was dragging others towards the war. It is equally imprudent that the NATO countries get Ukraine to be their savior with the slogan “unwavering support” and “as long as it takes.”
However, all bad things must come to an end. The dawn of a new era in the United States under the leadership of President Trump is expected to transform the fragile global security setting into a much-needed stable state.
Understandably, Ukraine is a sovereign nation. Yet, the staunch supporting countries must have the ability to appraise the true situation rather than covering up the disaster and waiting for a miracle to happen. It is also naive to think that Russia will withdraw from the captured areas. In this, Ukraine will be compelled to cede the territory to Russia. President Zelensky should look back and see where he went wrong. Indeed, Ukraine is now in a precarious situation. Had he pursued the negotiations facilitated by Turkey and Belarus, he would have been better positioned with more significant land areas in Ukraine. It is time for President Zelensky to think prudently and come to negotiations based on ground realities and interest of Ukraine.
On the other hand, this whole episode is a grand display of Europe’s weakness without even battle-testing against adversaries. NATO must remove Ukraine from the equation and become self-reliant as the most potent force in the world. Europe needs to strategize how to defend itself without getting Ukraine to do its job. That sense of security helps Europe become a force of recon. Similarly, Europe must take this golden opportunity to train and equip its armed forces to face any threats without getting someone else to fight for them.
Many significant security developments in the region led to this instability and security deterioration, which were conveniently ignored by the parties to the conflict at Ukraine’s expense. For any future stability and peaceful coexistence, it is important to analyze the root causes that led to this disastrous situation to minimize the potential damages and find a lasting solution at this juncture. The world is watching, and there is no doubt that President Trump will use his leadership to end this war for a better future.
