My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, fighting for democracy against terrible and brutal dictators. He would be appalled at the shift away from democracy and of Ukraine’s treatment by the administration.
Stalin cruelly starved the Ukrainians. As the Soviet Union broke up, Ukraine had the third most nuclear weapons of any country, after the United States and Russia. Thousands of nuclear arms were left in Ukraine by Moscow. Ukraine made the decision to denuclearize. In exchange, the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia would guarantee Ukraine’s security in a 1994 agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum.
President Clinton had a close relationship with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Clinton thought Russia was moving toward democracy and that an expansion of NATO to Russia’s border could jeopardize that. In 2004-05, in what has been referred to as the Orange Revolution, Ukraine elected leadership that wanted to move closer to the West, as was also the case with Georgia and other countries in the region.
Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and began its occupation. Russia then commenced its conquest of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Today, Russia occupies about 20% of the most eastern part of the country.
Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine in 2019 with 73% of the vote. President Biden strengthened NATO, and other allies, in arming and helping Ukraine. Congress, under the leadership of both parties during the Biden administration, supported Ukraine’s effort to repel the Russian invaders with the eventual goal of joining NATO. Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan voted to support Ukraine.
During his first term, and as the 2020 election was approaching, President Trump called President Zelensky in an unsuccessful attempt to bribe and bully him into providing compromising information on President Biden. This was an illegal attempt to affect an American election with foreign influence.
In February 2022, Russian troops gathered north of Kyiv and began an invasion towards the capitol. The Ukrainians heroically resisted. President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to accept a U.S. offer to helicopter out of the country. The U.S. and its allies have supplied Ukraine with military, intelligence and economic support. President Biden took Putin seriously and rallied support. Some say he should have given Ukraine the ability to bomb into Russia earlier, and I tend to agree with that.
The presidency gave Trump the ability to punish Zelensky for not meeting his demands. Retribution is a driving force for Trump, and he has openly said that. Sen. Sullivan voted for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He was so inept in Europe where he laid out the negotiating strategy before even sitting down with Putin. Then Vice President JD Vance lectured the Europeans at the security meeting in Munich. That was shocking. They know full well that MAGA is eroding democracy in the United States, and Vance has a shallow understanding of history. The Nazi era in Germany profoundly affected Europeans and they are very sensitive to “the rise of the Nazis.” My wife’s mother was 5 years old when the Nazis invaded Paris and 9 when the allies liberated Paris.
The White House meeting between Zelensky, Trump and Vance was unacceptable. Trump and Vance insulted and bullied a democratically elected ally and supported a brutal dictator. Zelensky is presiding over a country that has suffered tragically during the last three years. Remember, Ukraine was granted “security guarantees” by the U.S., U.K. and Russia. Trump is siding with Russia. He has alienated most of our faithful allies. The Canadians booed when the American national anthem was played at the recent hockey game. On the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. joined Russia, North Korea, and Iran in voting against a U.N. resolution to condemn Russian aggression. Is North Korea our new ally?
Trump echoes Putin’s talking points. He thinks he can barter a deal in which Ukraine gives up occupied territory, NATO membership and so on. What logical person would trust Putin? How did giving in to Hitler work? The terms of any ceasefire should be Russia leaves Ukraine and the occupied territory is returned to Ukrainian administration. Ukraine is a free and sovereign nation and can join NATO and the EU if it chooses. What must be negotiated is the funding of the rebuilding of Ukraine, and Russia should shoulder the major burden of that.
Sen. Murkowski has reiterated her support for NATO and criticized Putin. Does Sen. Sullivan side with Putin and Trump or Ukraine and us? What does Rep. Begich think?
Andrew Keller lives in Fairbanks.
