US and NATO mistakes led to Ukraine conflict, says former US State Department adviser

Jan 17, 2023 - 13:30

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US and NATO mistakes led to Ukraine conflict, says former US State Department adviser

New Delhi: Former US State Department adviser David L Phillips has blamed the West for failing to deter Russia from sending its troops into Ukraine last February.

In an article published in National Interest on Friday, Phillips wrote that the West had “many options” to stop Russia but failed to avail of them and responded weakly when it happened.

Phillips argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “telegraphed his plan to attack Ukraine long before the first shot was fired.”

“By exercising unilateral constraint and making unforced concessions, the Biden administration invited Russia to test the boundaries of its bellicosity,” Phillips wrote.

Phillips, who worked with the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, said that Biden handled the situation “carefully with half-measures” because the US was concerned that Russia may use its nuclear weapons if the West intervened.

Phillips argued that Biden’s early promise that NATO forces wouldn’t be stationed in Ukraine was “unnecessary.”

Talking about sanctions on Russia, Philips said that these were “implemented so incrementally that Putin was able to cushion their impact on Russia’s economy,”

Philips also suggested Ukraine should have been provided with “state-of-the-art NATO weaponry” from the outset.

Had the West taken “proactive preventive measures” before Russia launched its offensive in February last year, this could have “changed Putin’s calculus,” he claimed. For instance, if NATO had set up a war crimes tribunal for Ukraine, the “prospect of accountability” would act as a deterrent, he wrote.

Once the conflict began, however, Phillips suggests NATO could have “deployed more troops to frontline states like Romania” to demonstrate “resolve and readiness.” It could also have implemented a no-fly zone over certain beleaguered cities – a step the NATO decided against, fearing it would bring the bloc into direct conflict with Russia.

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II. About 8 million Ukrainians were displaced within their country by late May, and more than 7.9 million fled the country by 3 January 2023.

After the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, Russia annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed paramilitaries seized part of the Donbas region of south-eastern Ukraine, which consists of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, sparking a regional war.

In March 2021, Russia began a large military build-up along its border with Ukraine, eventually amassing up to 190,000 soldiers and their equipment.

Despite the build-up, denials of plans to invade or attack Ukraine were issued by various Russian government officials up to the day before the invasion.

On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, two self-proclaimed breakaway quasi-states in the Donbas. The next day, the Federation Council of Russia authorised the use of military force and Russian soldiers entered both territories.

The invasion began on the morning of 24 February 2022, when Russian president Putin announced a “special military operation” seeking the “demilitarisation” and “denazification” of Ukraine.

With inputs from agencies