U.S. Should Arm Ukraine to Help Check Russian Aggression - US News - 0 views
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Despite President Barack Obama’s repeated assurances that Russia faces political isolation and an “economy in tatters,” Russia is still a very real threat to Ukraine – and potentially to other former Soviet satellites as well.
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More than 5,400 people have been killed in the Ukraine conflict since Russian-backed rebels seized parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions last April.
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Russia’s military budget has still increased this year by 33 percent to 3.3 trillion rubles or more than $50 billion.
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Moreover, some European politicians appear to be having second thoughts about maintaining sanctions against Russia.
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On Feb. 12, Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko announced a peace deal after 17 hours of talks, yet these negotiations have not done much to end the conflict.
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Russia has flouted the so-called Minsk II ceasefire, and Russian weaponry and soldiers continue to flow into Ukraine, with serious detrimental effects.
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the need for the U.S. and its diplomatic partners to come up with a concerted strategy to push back against Russian imperialism. Increasing Ukraine’s military capabilities is a step in this direction.
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Providing Ukraine with the weapons and training it needs in order to defend itself as part of a coordinated strategy to strengthen the Ukrainian state can contribute to stability by increasing the potential costs to Russia for its aggression.
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supporting Ukraine will also ensure that Russia does not use its gains there as a precedent for invading other former-Soviet countries and re-establishing control.
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Pentagon officials have confirmed that U.S. troops will deploy to Ukraine this spring to train four companies of the Ukrainian National Guard.
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military aid to Ukraine will escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia and prompt retaliation from Moscow.
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the provision of weapons and training to Ukraine’s troops may strengthen Putin’s cry for a united nationalistic front against the West.
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But Russia’s government, and its proxies in eastern Ukraine, has demonstrated that it will not be easily satisfied.
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If it is not stopped there, it is liable to set its sights on still more territory that it hopes to acquire.
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The U.S. should follow through with Congress’ determination to arm Ukraine and thereby help Kiev to secure its borders – and its sovereignty.