Doug Bandow
After nearly three years of an ever more brutal proxy war against Moscow, American and European officials are finally discussing the possibility of peace negotiations. Even Ukraine’s Zelensky government, which early in the conflict banned any talks with Russia, is acknowledging the obvious.
Nevertheless, Washington’s bipartisan War Party, which shares blame with Vladimir Putin for the Russo–Ukrainian war, seems determined to drag America into any future conflict even though Americans have shown no desire to fight for Kiev. If President-elect Donald Trump wants to end the war, he should begin by rejecting U.S. and NATO involvement in this or a future conflict involving Ukraine.
The clash between Moscow and Kiev was tragically unnecessary. Although the decision to invade was Vladimir Putin’s alone, the allies recklessly created the circumstances leading to war. The Clinton administration decided to treat the Yeltsin government as a defeated power and ignored a string of assurances that the transatlantic alliance would not advance to Russia’s border. In time the Russian Bear recovered its strength, leading to repeated warnings of future consequences, including from then-U.S. Ambassador (and now CIA Director) William Burns. Before Moscow’s attack the allies curtly rejected Putin’s demand for negotiations over Ukrainian NATO membership, detailed by the alliance's then-Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Had the allies abandoned plans to militarize Russia’s lengthy border with Ukraine, there would have been no invasion. They, too, are drenched in blood.
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