Close to Home: Four reasons to support Ukraine

More than 20 months have passed since Russia’s all-out assault on Ukraine ignited the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II. Given everything else on the U.S. foreign policy agenda, including the challenge posed by China and the Israeli-Hamas crisis, why should Americans care about a war 5,000 miles away?

Here are four reasons why.

First, for more than 70 years, the United States has defined a stable and secure Europe as a vital national interest. Among other things, Europe is America’s largest trade and investment partner. A Russian victory would mean a less stable, less secure Europe. That would require more high-level attention and U.S. military resources, which otherwise could help deal with a rising China.

Second, the United States has long benefited from a rules-based international order. The most basic rule is that countries do not use force to take territory from others, as Russia is now doing.

Third, we don’t know how far Vladimir Putin’s neo-imperialist ambitions go. He does not accept Ukraine as a sovereign and independent state but often refers to it as historic Russian land.

Were Putin emboldened by a win in Ukraine, he might be tempted to look elsewhere. A map of the Russian Empire in the late 19th century includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and much of Poland, all now members of NATO. With Ukraine, the United States is sending money and arms; a Russian attack on, say, Estonia, would mean troops. It is better to stop Putin in Ukraine.

Some may minimize the odds of Putin attacking a NATO member. Perhaps, but four years ago most experts would have put the odds of a full Russian invasion of Ukraine at zero.

The fourth reason to support Ukraine is because the United States said it would. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ukraine had 1900 strategic nuclear warheads in its territory — enough to incinerate every U.S. city with a population of more than 50,000 three times over.

Ukraine gave up those weapons, a major U.S. policy goal. Key to that decision was Russia’s commitment to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and to not use force against Ukraine. I took part in those negotiations. Ukrainians asked what Washington would do if Russia violated its word. We made clear that the United States would take an interest and respond.

The world facing America will become a much darker place if Putin’s war succeeds. The United States should support Ukraine. It is in our national interest; and it is the right thing to do.

Steven Pifer, a graduate of Analy High School in Sebastopol, served U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998-2000.

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