“Since invading Ukraine three and a half years ago, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has mastered the tactical rheostat, turning up the heat at will, then cooling things down when the United States and Europe push back. In this way, he hopes to keep Ukraine permanently destabilized, fueling domestic discontent at Kiev’s inability to end the occupation, buying time to buy back the influence Russia lost by invading and bullying Ukraine into a Russian sphere of influence,” Blinken writes.
“Defensive weapons for Ukraine is an idea whose time has come,” former deputy secretary of state said.
Mr. Blinken said that the administration increased funding of increased activities of the NATO countries along the Russian western flank.
“NATO is not going anywhere, either. The Obama administration pressed the alliance to establish a nearly continuous air, land and sea presence — including United States forces — along Russia’s western flank to deter attacks against its most vulnerable neighbors. It also made a multibillion-dollar investment — the European Reassurance Initiative — to fund the increased activities. Despite Mr. Trump’s bouts of NATO bashing, the administration is sustaining both efforts,” he wrote.
Blinken also speaks of diplomacy as a final piece to the puzzle.
“Here the administration is using the United Nations to call Mr. Putin’s latest bluff: a peacekeeping force for eastern Ukraine on terms grossly advantageous to Moscow. The administration’s jiu-jitsu: Give that force dominion over the entire occupied area, put all heavy weapons under lock and key, give back to Ukraine control of its border and we’ve got a deal,” Blinken writes.
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