THE PROXY WAR

Saying that Ukraine will determine the outcome of negotiations with Russia is spin. The US and NATO have supplied Ukraine with the ability to resist the Russian attacks. It’s a proxy war.

US and NATO abandon Ukraine, one or the other, and things get really dicey. A cease fire saves lives, the lives of the people trapped in the war itself, the victims on both sides, who are cannon fodder. Negotiations will have to be conducted by the principals, which includes Ukraine.

Seeing a country, a society, torn apart by war can be abated by stopping the war that is what it is, a proxy war between NATO and Russia being fought in Ukraine. Saying it is something else does not make it so.

Ukraine’s position today is better than it has been. Giving Putin an exit ramp makes sense. The US is in the middle of a civil war. The government may fall apart this year or in the next two years, the Republic turn into Trump nation.

This is not a stable country, the Europeans should have figured this out. Biden and Putin are old cold warriors willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. Ukraine has to figure this out, and act accordingly. France’s Macron is talking sense, a ceasefire makes sense to bring down the jingoism on both sides, even a short pause is a sensible idea, a cease fire saves lives, will start negotiations, and may avoid catastrophe for Europe and the world.

10/25/22