Panic stations over Ukraine
As Biden warns of imminent conflict the left must act
Summary
- Place an overt condition on Ukraine’s NATO membership: stable borders and stable government
- Support the threat of massive sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, including support for Ukrainian resistance
- Defy the Xi/Putin pledge to crush “colour revolutions” by advocating democratic revolts in Russia, Belarus and China
Why the sudden flurry of warnings?
Biden’s panic over an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine should tell us time is tight. What seems to have triggered it is the breakdown (on 10 January) of nine-hour talks between the Normandy Four (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) after Kyiv refused to answer a written question about its attitude to the future of the Donbas region.
I read Biden’s statement as a final attempt to bounce the Zelensky government into accepting the Russian interpretation of Minsk II. This would allow the Russian-controlled territories in Luhansk and Donetsk to become special regions of Ukraine, with a veto over its foreign policy.
Call the final outcome what you want — neutrality or Finlandisation — but Putin would have “won without fighting”. If Zelensky accepted…
