Update on the Crisis in Ukraine

           The economic sanctions I had posted about last month have now been imposed by the United States Congress and President Barack Obama on Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.  The targeted sanctions are in addition to the freezing of assets and restrictions on the visas of a small number of Russians and Ukrainians complicit in the Russian invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea imposed by the Obama Administration and the suspension of military cooperation.  Congress also approved a loan to aid Ukraine while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration suspended cooperation with Russia, other than in regard to the International Space Station. 

            The European Union has also imposed visa restrictions and economic sanctions on a few Russians and Ukrainian collaborators, while Switzerland announced it would not allow its banks to be safe havens for those individuals.  The EU also is loaning money to the Ukrainian government to bail it out of its significant debt and it reduced tariffs on Ukrainian imports, which will help make up for the 50% increase in the fee Russia charges Ukraine for natural gas and to help restore the Ukrainian economy, which is in recession.  The EU suspended important trade talks with Russia. 

            As I mentioned in a post last month, the U.S. and the other major industrial powers (the Group of 7, which includes Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan) already boycotted a Group of 8 summit in Russia and suspended the Russian Federation from membership in the group.  The U.S. and a number of its allies also declined to send governmental delegations to the Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia, as also mentioned in the same post.   

I catalogue all these punishments of the Russian Federation in particular to note the price it is paying for its invasion of Ukraine, which is more than it paid for invading Georgia, although it is only a limited response that appears weak both to the Russians and to nervous Western allies in Eastern Europe, and worth the price for the gain the Russians perceive from winning Crimea.  Furthermore, President George W. Bush provided direct military support to Georgia, but there has been no military aid to Ukraine from the West. 

            Meanwhile, thousands of ethnic Ukrainians and Tatars have been fleeing Crimea.  All Ukrainian military forces have either withdrawn from Crimea or defected to the Russian Federation.  Russia captured all Ukrainian military bases and much materiel, including Ukraine’s Black Sea Fleet, while Russia has returned only obsolete tanks to Ukraine. 

            Tens of thousands of Russian troops have massed on the border with Ukraine and some of them did make an incursion north of Crimea, which increased Ukrainian fears of an invasion of eastern Ukraine, which is inhabited mostly by ethnic Russians.  Russia pulled back several thousand soldiers, but it is not clear if the move was in response to Western pressure or a feint. 

In addition to Ukraine and Georgia, there are concerns in Moldova and even the Baltic States over Russian imperialism, especially given the Russian Federation’s assertion of a right to “protect” Russian-speakers abroad, especially former Soviet territory that it deeply regrets losing and over which it claims a sphere of influence.   

The U.S., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the EU must act by offering more support to Eastern European states threatened by Russia, such as implementing missile defense that protects against Russian missiles and opening a pathway for NATO cooperation or membership for more former Soviet republics while increasing the financial price on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea to deter further aggression and reassure Eastern Europeans of the West’s resolve to protect them.