The Question of Allies

Baltic people, and others who have known Soviet or Russian occupation, can ill afford naïveté. People farther away might dismiss Putin’s assault on Ukraine as a “territorial dispute,” obsessed over by “D.C. elites.” But Balts, Poles, Czechs, and others know better, as a rule.

Here is the prime minister of Estonia:

Here is the foreign minister of Lithuania, in a simple “thread,” expressing powerful truths:

He ends,

We are on the verge of repeating historic mistakes. I am convinced that if we won’t defeat Russia now, that means our chosen path is to suffer unimaginable and unnecessary losses before we eventually decide it’s time to step up and win.

Moscow demanded the presence of the Czech Republic (or “Czechia”) at the U.N. Security Council. The Czech foreign minister had a straightforward response:

• From the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine:

• This is a stirring alliance, as some of us see it: the alliance between Britain and Ukraine. An alliance for human freedom.

• Further on the subject of alliances — a report from DW (Deutsche Welle) is headed “War in Ukraine sparks German rethink on defense, security.” The report begins,

From an initial pledge of 5,000 helmets for Ukrainian troops at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Germany is now delivering cutting-edge military technology — and will likely keep doing so in the new year.

• “Russia is working to subvert French support for Ukraine, documents show.” That is a heading over a report in the Washington Post. It begins,

From the top floor of the house he shares here with a senior Russian diplomat — to whom he rents the apartment below — the man who helped bankroll the French presidential bid of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has been working on plans to propel pro-Moscow politicians to power.

Of course. All of this is familiar from Soviet days. (In those days, however, the Kremlin was working with leftists rather than rightists. But eether/eyether, tomayto/tomahto.)

• Mike Pompeo is a Republican and a former Trump cabinet member. But clearly he is not angling for a job in the next Trump term — which some of us find noteworthy, laudable, and honorable.

• Since the end of World War II, there has been a Western security structure, at the center of which has been NATO. Will this structure survive another Trump term? Gary Schmitt considers the question here, and Daniel Hannan considers the question here. It is a very grave question.

There are people who snort at “Western security structure,” as they do “rules-based international order.” I know a lot of these people. But we will miss it when it’s gone — even the snorters, most of them.

• A report from the Financial Times:

The US has proposed that working groups from the G7 explore ways to seize $300bn in frozen Russian assets, as the allies rush to agree on a plan in time for the second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s allies have to prepare for the day when the U.S. withdraws its support — its support of Ukraine. Can Ukraine survive such a withdrawal? Can its allies give these embattled and fighting people enough support? Is America indispensable? Are we “the indispensable nation,” as a secretary of state once said?

All this may be tested, soon.