One Year Later, the Case for U.S. Support of Ukraine Remains Strong

The one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has arrived, and the conflict shows no sign of ending. This week, President Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to show solidarity with the Ukrainian government and armed forces. David Goldman at the Hoover Institute asks the important question of what the United States’ strategic interests in Ukraine are — and how might they affect the policy of the American republic regarding the ongoing war there. The Biden administration’s inconsistent behavior regarding the conflict, and the inconsistent rhetoric used by much of the diplomatic establishment in Washington in discussing it, have left the United States with rather bleak potential outcomes.

“Having stumbled into a war for which it was poorly prepared, and having then failed to crush the Russian economy through sanctions, the United States faces a dilemma,” Goldman notes. A potential cease-fire would allow Russia “to claim success in its annexation of Ukrainian territory.” A prolonged war of attrition would likely “reduce Ukraine to dysfunctionality” end in a Russian victory. The most probable outcome, Goldman believes, is “a humiliating armistice.”