Frederick Kemp President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Council.
This is a story of evil and good.
This is the story of Despot’s ruthless attacks targeting Ukrainian citizens and the historic but inadequate rallying of democracies to save the country.
At noon on Monday, in the industrial city of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, about 1,000 men, women and children sitting quietly across the Dniep River enjoy normal conditions in a brutal war. I wandered around the Star Shopping Mall.
Thousands of feet overhead about 185 miles away Russian bomber flying over the Kursk region of Russia Perhaps the Tupolev Tu-22M3 has released at least two Kh-22 medium-range, 2,000-pound nuclear-capable cruise missiles developed in the 1960s to destroy aircraft carriers.Ann Air raid siren Ukrainians who practiced well in the fifth month of the Russian president mourned Vladimir Putin’s Scramble for war and safety.
Around the same time, in a luxurious retreat in Schloss Ermau in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, a group of seven leaders representing the world’s largest democracy met to strengthen widespread sanctions on Putin and Russia. I flocked to my seat.they Discussed options to choke the finances that fuel Putin’s warIncluding price caps on oil sales to Russia, $ 1 billion The dollar the world pays Russia every day for energy.
One of the missiles shouted at the shopping center when they struggled to make progress. The CCTV video shot an idyllic day. Otherwise, the faint clouds that decorate the blue sky, and the curls of the huge fireballs of the blast and the huge black smoke. Shattered glass and debris passed by the camera.
A day later, Ukrainian officials counted the deaths and found that at least 20 people were killed and 59 were injured in the war that Putin’s army had already killed. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, Ukrainians — NATO leaders have gathered for the summit that took me to Madrid. They were upset about the timing of Putin’s shopping mall strikes, knowing that it was directed at them as much as Ukraine.
“Speak as much as you like,” Putin seemed to tell them. “Sign your favorite document. In history, even if your attrition warfare makes you and your spoiled society last longer, revives Imperial Russia, and your decadent western continues to decline. I will seal my position. “
Putin nevertheless historic Agreement In Madrid this week, no one was yet willing to offer, despite the increasing number and quality of weapon deliveries from the United States and its partners. Heavier, longer range, precision weapons It can prevent shopping mall strikes and many other people and may enable urgently needed counterattacks.
Still, NATO has reached an invisible level of unity in over 30 years.
At the end of the marathon, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stortenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson participated in a multi-hour negotiation session, both to Finland and Sweden. We have reached an agreement to pave the way. Join NATO and, in the case of Sweden, to end the neutrality of the second century.
The next day, the NATO leader New strategic concept, Emphasizes Russia as the most present danger, but includes China for the first time as a common concern. Leaders from Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand attended the NATO Summit for the first time as partners and guests.
NATO Chinese The alliance has shown that it understands that it faces global and interrelated challenges.With that in mind 30 countries needed to approve the textMany of them still have China as their largest trading partner, which is a powerful reading material.
“The ambitions and compulsory policies expressed by the People’s Republic of China challenge our interests, security and values,” he said. Then, “China is trying to manage key technology and industrial sectors, critical infrastructure, strategic minerals and supply chains. Use economic influence to build strategic dependencies and influence. We are strengthening. We are striving to overthrow the international order based on rules. Including the fields of space, cyber, and maritime. “
There were many congratulatory talks among allies, including the President, about their growing unity and deepening their goals. Joe Biden’s declaration NATO was sending Putin an “unmistakable message.”
In other agreements, NATO acted to support its eastern and southern sides, and the U.S. military Corps headquarters to Poland more Army to the Baltic states and Romania.. NATO has promised to increase its well-prepared troops from 40,000 to 300,000, despite Sweden and Finland bringing in new military power.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Notice The summit can be as important as Yalta (heaven helps us) and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
and NATO Public Forum co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council In the margin of the summit, I asked How does French Foreign Minister Catherine Corona rank historic moments?
“History will tell you,” she said.
Don’t miss the message of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to this week’s G-7 leaders. They must provide him with a means of counterattack to push back Russian troops before the start of winter, and Ukrainian allies lose interest in the face of rising economic headwinds.
“Russia is currently waging two wars.” Writing Greg Ip in The Wall Street Journal.. “A hot war with Ukraine where costs are measured by death and destruction, and a Cold War with the West where costs are measured by economic difficulties and inflation.”
President Putin, in the face of a more determined western and more armed Ukraine, could collapse over time, Ip wrote, but “the more political support for Ukraine collapses, the more western it is. We can impose sufficient short-term costs on consumers. “
I am encouraged by the growing consensus between European and Asian democracy that the defeat of Ukraine will be disastrous for Europe and the world order as other despots calculate their own opportunities. Leave Madrid.
Still, I was also disappointed that military support and sanctions are not yet equal to historic bets for all progress this week.
The army for good had a great week in this contest between determined Despot and rally democracy. It’s not enough unless they build on it and fast.
