UKRAINE:

THE TIME FOR PEACE IS NOW

The war in Ukraine is clearly one of the greatest disasters in the modern world. It is important to understand who initiated this conflict. The war's roots can be traced back to the Clinton administration, which violated solemn promises made to Russia that NATO would not be expanded eastward. Under the Bush administration, NATO was expanded even further—right up to the very doorstep of Saint Petersburg, Estonia, a region with significant historical sensitivity for Russia. During the Obama administration, American efforts contributed to the overthrow of Ukraine's legally elected government and its replacement by a virulently anti-Russian regime that included neo-Nazi elements.

Today, while we rightly condemn Mr. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it is absurd to claim that this incident appeared out of nowhere. What is essential now is to reverse more than 30 years of policies that have been openly hostile to Russia, seemingly intent on destroying independent Russian governments and replacing them with puppet regimes favorable to Western leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and their foreign policy teams.

The slaughter must end. This war is extremely dangerous because Western actions are pushing it toward a nuclear confrontation with Russia. It doesn’t help that Western intelligence aids Ukraine in launching attacks against Russia itself and that America has flooded the country with horrendous weapons of war, such as cluster bombs. This must be stopped. Again, the issue is part of a larger policy that spans over three decades and must be reversed. An immediate ceasefire and a major lifting of sanctions are needed.

Ideas like Ukraine returning to its 2014 boundaries should be abandoned—they are unrealistic and misleading. These notions have little to do with democracy or human rights, despite Western leaders’ rhetoric. For example, it is highly questionable that the people of Crimea desire to rejoin the unstable state of Ukraine.

It is very unclear that today's Ukraine is really a democracy. Mr. Zelensky's term in office has expired. He has crushed freedom of the press and imprisoned his political opponents under the false claim that they were somehow all supporting Putin. So, defending Mr. Zelensky's regime is not the same thing as defending the Ukrainian people or defending democracy.

We are very disappointed that Mr. Putin did not accept an unconditional ceasefire. This is not helpful. However, there is an overwhelming need for peace here. To get Mr. Putin to a ceasefire, every effort should be made to lift part of the sanctions, many of which are harmful to the U.S. economy. This is a priority. The last thing we should be doing is putting on more sanctions. This is a policy that has produced nothing but failure and disaster for years. The time for peace is now—not tomorrow, but today. Every effort should be made to bring this war to a close.