“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing…”
— Winston S. Churchill
OPINION -- Winston Churchill would have recognized the current situation in the U.S. relationship with Russia as a unique opportunity to make a mark on history.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s war intentions in Ukraine, saying he considered Russians and Ukrainians to be one people and, “in that sense the whole of Ukraine is ours.” In the past two weeks, Putin has intensified Russia’s drone and missile attacks across Ukraine putting heavy strain on Ukrainian air defenses. The Russian president is evidently of the view that Ukraine’s defenses may be on the verge of collapse and that he can achieve his war ambitions through force.
Putin has cleverly played his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, whispering intentions of ending the war through negotiation and counting on Trump’s desire for peace to push Ukraine into a deal that would essentially amount to surrender. But Putin has never once deviated from his maximalist goals in the war, in fact, he has only reaffirmed them at every opportunity. Russian participation in negotiations with Ukraine were quickly proven to be a form of ‘maskirovka’ (successful operations that mislead the enemy).
Now, Putin has intensified a bombing campaign clearly designed to target civilian infrastructure with the intent of both killing and demoralizing the Ukrainian people, and undermining support for the war and for the government in Kyiv.
Trump and his team seem to have finally arrived at the realization that they have been taken for a ride by Putin. The U.S. president recently characterized discussions with the Russian leader as “meaningless,” saying, “We get a lot of bullsh*t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth.” (President Trump is not known for understatement. This may be the exception.)
Following his most recent call with Putin and a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump decided to resume sending some air defense interceptors and precision-guided bombs and missiles to Ukraine after last month’s halt. This is a positive development but it is not enough.
Now is the critical moment to show strength, unity, and resolve to support the people of Ukraine. The U.S. President should not let himself be distracted by any suggestion relayed by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to Secretary of State Rubio after the two exchanged views on new ideas for Ukraine peace talks. (Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.)
The people of Ukraine understand better than anyone, the existential nature of Putin’s aggression. They see what Russia is doing by kidnapping Ukrainian children and sending them to the territory of the Russian Federation. They see the elimination of Ukrainian language instruction in schools in areas Russia occupies. They see the dreadful, starved and tortured condition of Ukrainian soldiers who are returned in prisoner exchanges. For Ukraine, surrender or conquest means extermination. To end this, more military, economic and political assistance is required.
The decision by the U.S. to participate in the recent “Coalition of the Willing” meeting is another step in the right direction. U.S. participation sends an important message to our allies and to Putin. Trump should immediately take other actions to send Putin and the world a clear message of support for the victim in this conflict, Ukraine.
A good first step would be to support legislation sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal that targets Russia and countries that purchase Russian hydrocarbon products with stiff sanctions. The full range of available weapons systems should also be fast-tracked for delivery to Ukraine. Restrictions on their use in targeting military installations in the territory of the Russian Federation should be immediately removed. And high priority in that target set should be the factories that produce the Shahed drones that are now being used as weapons of terror against Ukrainian civilians.
President Trump should take a big picture view of the world Putin has created and the actual state of play of the “Axis of Resistance” that Putin has built.
In December of 2024, one of the key players in the Axis, former Syrian President Basher al Assad, saw his government collapse and he fled to exile in Moscow. Since October 2023, Israel has ruthlessly dismantled favored surrogates of the Axis, including Hamas and Hezbollah. The U.S. used military force to attack another favorite surrogate of Iran, the Houthis in Yemen. And in June, Israel conducted a number of stunningly effective attacks against Iran’s nuclear program, military leadership, scientists, air defenses and other important targets.
Significantly, the U.S. joined Israel in conducting attacks against nuclear targets in Iran thereby demonstrating a commitment to use powerful elements of the U.S. military against a critical member of Putin’s alliance. Note that all of these actions against Putin’s axis received barely a peep from the great dictator in the Kremlin, much less a military response. Putin’s axis is in serious trouble.
Russia’s military is fully engaged in the fight against Ukraine, leaving Moscow with very little response. Estimates suggest that Russia has suffered a million casualties (killed, wounded, captured, missing) in the conflict thus far. All for the gain of a few hundred kilometers of Ukrainian territory.
The cost to Russia’s economy has been similarly catastrophic. Inside his government, the mysterious deaths and suicides of regime officials and oligarchs—even some considered to be Putin supporters - has got to be sending a message to those remaining - that no one is safe. The key piece in the puzzle that could bring Putin the fate he deserves is resolve from the U.S. President.
Ukraine was given just enough support not to lose against Russia under President Joe Biden, but never enough support to actually win and end this war. President Trump, you have the opportunity to show the world that you are the winning president.
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