Give Ukraine back its future

2014 invasion of Crimea, when the West told Ukrainians to stand down and tacitly accepted Russian control of the peninsula. On the eve of the 2022 full-scale invasion, we prepared to support a long Ukrainian guerilla war against Russian occupation and were cautious about giving the Ukrainian government weapons that we assumed would only fall into Russian hands. As the Kremlin’s tanks crossed the border, we offered President Volodymyr Zelensky an escape route, so he could lead Ukraine’s government in exile.Even after the Ukrainian people showed that they had the will and the strength not to be conquered, we have been collectively hesitant about giving them the tools that they need to win.

Worse, we have even cautioned them against using their own weapons to maximum effect.It is time to stop equivocating. It is time to stop settling for stalemate and planning for Finlandization. Ukraine can defeat Russia, and NATO allies and our Asian partners will be stronger if it does.

So, it is past time to plan for success.It starts with Ukraine’s capacity for victory. Since the war began, Ukraine has consistently outperformed Western expectations. Kyiv did not fall.

Ukraine, with no navy of its own, has destroyed much of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and broken through its maritime blockade. Ukraine has deprived Russia of control of the sky. And Ukraine has held Russia to an effective stalemate on the ground: in fact, Ukraine today controls more of its own territory than it did immediately after Russia’s full-scale incursion.Ukraine, a country of 40 million, with an economy the size of the US state of Nebraska, is holding its own against Russia, with its 144 million people, oil production on par with Saudi Arabia, and the world’s