COLUMN: Explaining the war in Ukraine from a historical perspective

Why did Russia invade Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022? I remember waking up that morning and getting on the computer and that being all over the feed. I didn’t go to work that day. I set in the ultimate sadness pondering the future and possibilities. For weeks I was in a kind of dumbfounded stupor not knowing why this would happen.

According to the Biden administration and the media, it was because Russian President Vladimir Putin was a warmongering dictator bent on the destruction of the western world. That Ukraine must win and we must support them at all costs.

I remember hearing President Joe Biden say about Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” The danger of those words cannot be understated. This got me to thinking, why is the United States so insistent on supporting Ukraine at all costs? This isn’t a proxy war in a far off land, this is right next door for the Russians.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 there were a multitude of consequences. The weapons of the former Soviet Union were up for sale to the highest bidder. This was serious concern for the western powers and Ukraine was brought to the forefront of western leaders planning. In the years following there were many talks between the western powers, Russia and Ukraine. The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances was the result of these talks.

This Memorandum removed all nuclear weapons from Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. It also prohibited Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom from threatening or using military force against these countries.

A key point in this agreement was the distinction between “security guarantee” and “security assurance.” Guaranteeing security would enact Article 5 of NATO members, which commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state as a attack on them all deeming military action necessary.

Former Vice President Al Gore, on a visit to Moscow on Dec. 15, 1993, assured the Russian delegation that this wasn’t a guarantee but assurance. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev reportedly said that NATO assured him that they wouldn’t move one centimeter east. This has been said to be false by western leaders and was never said.

When Former President Bill Clinton stopped in Ukraine on his way to Moscow for the signing, Former Ukraine President Leonid Kravchuk was getting cold feet. Clinton used his persuasion powers to convince Kravchuk that this would seriously hamper the relations of the western world with Ukraine.

Ukraine’s original parliament insisted on neutrality in 1991, since they have grown closer and closer to NATO. Joining the Partnership for Peace in 1994 then the NATO-Ukraine Commission in 1997 and then the NATO-Ukraine action plan in 2002. In 2005, talks intensified to become a member nation of NATO culminating with the formal declaration in 2008 that they wished to attain full membership. Followed by the NATO Secretary General saying they would allow Ukraine and Georgia to join even though he had no legal right to do so.

As one could imagine this was of great concern to Russia. How would we feel if Canada was in formal negotiations to join a military alliance with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea? As proven by the Cuban Missile Crisis, we would risk an all-out nuclear war to stop this.

One might ask what is NATO? It was implemented on April 4, 1949 as a response to the threat of the Soviet Union. It has 30 European and two North American nations. These member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. In response, the Soviet Union formed its own alliance called the Warsaw Pact in 1955, containing eight countries. NATO has remained in place even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact.

In 2010, Ukraine’s parliament voted to stop the process of joining NATO. At this time, only 28 percent of Ukrainians approved of joining NATO. In 2014, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych withdrew from signing an association agreement with the European Union that was approved by parliament. This led to a wave of protests called Euromaiden that were said to be funded by western governments by Russia and led to higher tensions in the area.

Pro-Russian unrest in the eastern and southern Ukraine were the almost immediate reaction by Russian-speaking people of the regions. War was sparked in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas followed by the Russian Annexation of Crimea. This led to over half of Ukrainians voting at over 50 percent to join NATO.

In March 2021, there was a massive Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border. During this buildup, Putin set out an ultimatum designed to keep Ukraine, or any former Soviet state, from joining NATO. The response from the west was that Eastern European states willingly joined NATO for security reasons. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg replied that, “Russia has no say on whether Ukraine joins and has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbors."

In a country of 41 million people, an estimated 17.6 million people have be displaced according to United Nations refugee agency. There have been 5.9 million refugees scattered across Europe. Losses in casualties to both armies are extremely hard to estimate due to the propaganda war. Russia has taken over 11 percent of Ukraine’s territory since the beginning of the war and 18 percent counting Crimea.

Ukraine's economy has shrunk by 30 percent and Russia’s by estimate of more than 10 percent. Russia has doubled its defense spending to over $100 billion a year. Conservative estimates of global aid to Ukraine have been about $378 billion, including $175 billion from the United States. Military aid from the United States have been estimated over $46 billion.

Looking back, there is plenty of blame to be passed around; the west led by the United States looking to expand its influence around the world; Russia for annexing Georgia and Crimea, causing the Ukrainian people to look to the west for security. However, blame won’t solve the problem though. The world has been brought to the brink of World War III, some say closer than the Cuban Missile Crisis.

This war doesn’t need to continue, there are ways out if both sides will compromise. The Russians have said many times they will come to the negotiation table, it's up to us to meet them. The world needs a strong United States that is not only looking out for our best interests, but the interests of all parties involved.