{"id":447603,"date":"2022-05-16T03:15:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-16T00:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/biden-must-decide-what-victory-in-ukraine-means\/"},"modified":"2022-05-16T03:15:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T00:15:45","slug":"biden-must-decide-what-victory-in-ukraine-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/biden-must-decide-what-victory-in-ukraine-means\/","title":{"rendered":"#Biden must decide what &#8216;victory&#8217; in Ukraine means"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a371059bbcd9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a371059bbcd9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/biden-must-decide-what-victory-in-ukraine-means\/#%E2%80%9CBiden_must_decide_what_%E2%80%98victory_in_Ukraine_means%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Biden must decide what &#8216;victory&#8217; in Ukraine means&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBiden_must_decide_what_%E2%80%98victory_in_Ukraine_means%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Biden must decide what &#8216;victory&#8217; in Ukraine means&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s responses to Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine comprise a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of failures.<\/p>\n<p>First, he failed to deter the invasion itself, the devastating consequences of which are unfolding daily. Second, US intelligence grossly overestimated Russia\u2019s military competence, briefing Congress that Kyiv would fall in days and the whole country in weeks. <\/p>\n<p>Third, US and allied assistance has repeatedly been behind the curve, with Ukraine saved primarily by its own soldiers\u2019 grit and Russian military ineptitude.<\/p>\n<p>Congress is nearing <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roval of $40 billion in new aid. Many now talk not merely of \u201csaving\u201d Ukraine but of \u201cvictory.\u201d Of course, it would be helpful to know what we mean by that. <\/p>\n<p>Without defining our objectives (and Ukraine\u2019s) more precisely, we will remain in today\u2019s semi-coherent muddle, even as we enter what Ukraine\u2019s defense minister calls a \u201cnew, long phase of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moscow\u2019s unprovoked aggression launched a war primarily about territory. President Vladimir Putin and many Russians believe Ukraine and other Soviet territories were illegitimately sundered from the <em>rodina<\/em>, Mother Russia, and they want them back. Ukrainians, with equal passion and far more justification, want full sovereignty and territorial integrity, as mutually agreed among all Soviet republics when the USSR dissolved on Dec. 31, 1991.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-296.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY\" class=\"wp-image-22279781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-296.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-296.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-296.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not holding back on regaining sovereignty and territorial integrity over his country\u2019s borders.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">ZUMAPRESS.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Defining \u201cvictory\u201d is becoming more urgent. Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to consider an im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>te cease-fire, which Moscow undoubtedly saw as a sign of weakness. At a minimum, before negotiations start, we should know what we are negotiating for, which at the moment we do not.<\/p>\n<p>Importantly, defining \u201cvictory,\u201d or at least agreeing upon a common set of Ukrainian-NATO goals, is where allied unity is most likely to fracture irreparably. <\/p>\n<p>Putin knows this for a certainty. The veneer of alliance unity, incessantly touted by the Biden administration and its media scriveners, already conceals enormous differences in the strategy and implementation of both economic sanctions and military assistance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-303.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Putin\" class=\"wp-image-22279784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-303.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-303.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-303.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Russian President Vladimir Putin could gain the upper hand in negotiations.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Sputnik\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-298.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Ukraine war\" class=\"wp-image-22279782\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-298.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-298.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-298.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Bombed buildings wait to be demolished as people begin to return to the town of Borodianka, Ukraine on May 15, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images\/Christopher Furlong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While acceptably resolving the conflict requires settling many contentious issues \u2014 Russian reparations and accountability and Russia\u2019s post-conflict relations with the West to name a few \u2014 the major dispute is over territory and sovereignty. We can predict, as can Putin, that many of our \u201callies\u201d will perform poorly during the negotiations. Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, himself revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/zelensky-rejects-macron-pressure-to-cede-ukrainian-territory\/\">pressured him<\/a> <em>last week<\/em> to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia so Putin could save face. Zelensky, quite properly, refused.<\/p>\n<p>The combatants\u2019 opening positions are clear. Russia will insist on <em>uti possidetis<\/em> (roughly, \u201ckeep what you hold\u201d), with each side maintaining control of the territories they respectively dominate on the day hostilities stop (whether by unilateral action or mutual cease-fire). <\/p>\n<p>That will be the Kremlin\u2019s position in any short-term cease-fire \u2014 and for the long term, in effect permanently. Indeed, this reality underlines why Russia will likely keep grinding away militarily, still hoping to increase the total territory seized since February 24.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Whatever the terms of any cease-fire, Ukraine will surely insist on quickly regaining sovereignty and territorial integrity over its borders as of the USSR\u2019s dissolution, thus requiring Russia to withdraw both from areas seized since February and those taken in 2014, including Crimea. As of now, Zelensky sees no reason to accept anything less.<\/p>\n<p>The United States should endorse Ukraine\u2019s position, which is, indeed, what we have theoretically asserted since 2014. Implementing that position, however, implies that we provide weapons and intelligence assets not simply to stop Russian advances but to retake considerably more lost ground than Ukraine has achieved to date.<\/p>\n<p>Yet it is far from clear that Biden believes in victory or accepts the necessary implications. He <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/03\/10\/poland-fighter-jet-deal-ukraine-russia-00016038\">personally decided against<\/a> transferring Polish MiGs to Ukraine, fearing that doing so would be \u201cescalatory.\u201d Ukrainian pilots, though, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/national-security-daily\/2022\/05\/13\/we-are-all-ghosts-of-kyiv-00032426\">no longer want<\/a> MiGs but American F-15s and F-16s and appropriate training. Is Biden prepared for that?<\/p>\n<p>What happens in future negotiations is unknowable, but it would be a significant blow to American credibility globally to come as close as Ukraine has to defeating a superpower only to give away at the negotiating table what has been won at such a high cost on the battlefield. We do not have forever to make up our minds.<\/p>\n<p><em>John Bolton was national security adviser to President Donald Trump, 2018-\u201919, and US ambassador to the United Nations, 2005-\u201906.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/15\/biden-must-decide-what-victory-in-ukraine-means\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Biden must decide what &#8216;victory&#8217; in Ukraine means&#8221; President Joe Biden\u2019s responses to Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine comprise a series of failures. First, he failed to deter the invasion itself, the devastating consequences of which are unfolding daily. Second, US intelligence grossly overestimated Russia\u2019s military competence, briefing Congress that Kyiv would fall in days and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":447604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/bolton-ukraine-index.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129173,75241,991,4975,70868,126128,73234,100713],"class_list":["post-447603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-15-22","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-joe-biden","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-war","tag-vladimir-putin","tag-volodymyr-zelensky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}