Ukraine
April 22, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Comedian Volodmyr Zelensky has romped to victory in the Ukrainian presidential election. Zelensky, age 41, has no political experience and no experience in any field of endeavor that seems relevant to holding high political office. Zelensky came to prominence by starring in a television show in which he portrays the president of Ukraine, a school teacher who sweeps into office after his rant against corruption is caught on camera and
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December 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
On Wednesday, Josh Rogin of the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration has for the first time approved the commercial sale of Model M107A1 Sniper Systems, ammunition, and associated parts and accessories to Ukraine, a sale valued at $41.5 million. The Obama administration had refused to issue export licenses for lethal weapons. Initial reports, including the Post’s, were that the sales to Ukraine would not encompass heavier weaponry such
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November 30, 2016 — John Hinderaker
London’s Sun isn’t much of a newspaper. Most of its articles are about crime, actresses on vacation and reality TV actors behaving badly. But even the Sun knows that the potential outbreak of war in Central Europe is worth covering: Russia is reportedly deploying a massive army on the Ukrainian border amid fears of an imminent invasion which risks destabilising Eastern Europe. Ukraine‘s Deputy Defence Minister Ihor Dolhov says a
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April 10, 2016 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, Holland voted against an EU trade agreement that facilitates trade and cooperation between Ukraine and Europe. I’m often happy when the EU loses a referendum, something of a regular occurrence albeit usually without consequences, as Andrew Stuttaford notes. In this case, there is no cause for joy. Ukraine faces an existential threat from Russia. The West has done little militarily to help. The least the EU can do
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December 1, 2015 — Paul Mirengoff
President Obama has steadfastly refused to provide weapons to Ukraine with which that beleaguered nation might defend itself from Russian aggression. Heaven forbid that a weapon from the U.S. might be used to kill a Russian invader or even a Ukrainian fighter aligned with Russia. What would Putin say? In lieu of weapons, the U.S. has supplied Ukraine with certain non-lethal equipment. But according to the Washington Post some of
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December 24, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Ukraine’s parliament voted yesterday to remove a legal impediment to joining the NATO defense alliance. The vote ends Ukraine’s “non-aligned” status which it had adopted to assure Russia it would not join NATO. 303 members out of a possible 450 voted for the change. They did so knowing that NATO will not accept Ukraine as a member in the foreseeable future. Membership would carry with it security guarantees. And, as
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December 2, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
You don’t see much in the news any more about Eastern Ukraine. Nor is there any indication that President Obama is thinking about the situation there. The “cease fire” that Russia, in essence, imposed provides enough of a fig leaf for the world to avert its gaze. However, as Ukrainian journalist Nikoay Vorobiov inconveniently informs us, the “cease fire” hasn’t stopped the fighting. Speaking yesterday at the Heritage Foundation, Vorobiov,
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July 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
It’s not getting much attention, but Ukraine continues to make military progress against rebel separatists. The Washington Post reports that the Ukrainian military has pushed the rebels out of a series of villages and towns in the East, and now has its sights set on Horlivka, a city of about 300,000. If it succeeds in taking Horlivka, the military will be on the doorstep of Donetsk, the separatists’ power center.
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July 20, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Leon Aron of AEI takes a sober look at what’s likely to happen next in Eastern Ukraine. He begins by noting that, although new sanctions are likely to be imposed against Russia and are likely to be painful, they are not likely to cause Putin to permit the pro-Russian separatists to suffer defeat: After half a year of deafening war-mongering propaganda, the rebel’s defeat would be an enormous blow to
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July 19, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Scott correctly observes that we can count on President Obama to say the wrong thing. To make matters worse, all too often Obama says nonsensical things. Consider his remarks yesterday about the downing of the Malaysian airliner by Ukrainian separatists. Obama declared: We need to know exactly what happened, and everybody needs to make sure that we’re holding accountable those who committed this outrage. To this standard-issue mush, Obama added
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July 18, 2014 — John Hinderaker
The destruction of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 is one of the most appalling news stories within memory. A commercial airliner cruising six miles in the air, destroyed instantaneously by a surface to air missile–like September 11, I am afraid this event will permanently erode our sense of security. I agree with what Paul wrote this morning: the downing of MH17 should have serious consequences, but probably won’t. Here are a
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July 18, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The conventional wisdom about the downing of the Malaysian passenger jet over Ukraine seems to have emerged. John McCain expressed it this way: “If the Malaysian plane was shot down, this is obviously a game changer.” McCain continued, “if it is the result of either separatist or Russian actions mistakenly believing this was a Ukrainian war plane, I think there’s going to be hell to pay.” Various experts quoted in
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April 30, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Eastern Ukraine is sliding toward chaos, and the Obama administration’s response to Russian aggression has been limited to sanctions imposed on a handful of individuals associated with the Putin regime. It is hard to see how such measures could deter Putin, and, as George Friedman of Stratfor explains, they won’t: “The U.S. Opts for Ineffective Sanctions on Russia.” Friedman’s analysis is, I think, intensely interesting: Placing effective sanctions on a
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April 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Who knows? Who cares? I doubt that Hitler did, at least not to the point that stock prices affected his foreign and military policy. And if ordinary Germans cared, it didn’t matter. The Obama administration touts a recent drop in the Russian stock market (which, by the way, began before the U.S. imposed sanctions). For example, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken notes that Russia’s financial markets are
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April 22, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
“Green men” — armed gunmen wearing green — were at the vanguard of Russia’s Crimea takeover. Now they are stirring the pot in Eastern Ukraine. Russia claims they are local protesters. In reality, as Max Boot says, they are Russian soldiers and intelligence operatives. The evidence is conclusive. According to the New York Times: Photographs and descriptions from eastern Ukraine endorsed by the Obama administration on Sunday suggest that many
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April 22, 2014 — Scott Johnson
I used to patronize a toy store in St. Paul called Essence of Nonsense. The store closed in 2010 but the memory lives on. It’s a great name for a toy store and it has a wider applicability. It comes to mind in connection with the sophisticated liberal pieties that New York Times columnist Nick Kristof serves up in his encounter with Bill Kristol on CNN discussing Obama administration foreign
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April 17, 2014 — John Hinderaker
More evidence that we are living through a reprise of the 1930s: Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to “register” with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media. Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city’s Jews to provide a
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