Russia launched an overnight missile and drone strike on Ukraine that killed 12 people and injured 90 more in Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s air force. Russia launched the strike hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a peace deal that reportedly included acceptance of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, recognition of Russian de facto control over the four provinces of Eastern Ukraine (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson), lifting of sanctions on Russia, and Ukraine not joining NATO.
Zelensky had responded to the proposal, “Ukraine will not legally recognize the occupation of Crimea. Nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution.”
Recognize it or not, Russia is in control of Crimea. Moreover, Russia controls the entire eastern border regions. And given Ukraine’s strained manpower and its dependence on foreign countries for everything but its dwindling manpower, Russia smells blood in the water.
President Donald Trump reacted to the strikes by going onto social media and asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop. He wrote:
I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!
As noted above, the Trump administration has proposed a peace deal that would allow Russia to keep most of the territory it has taken since February 2022, and Ukraine would have to give up aspirations to join NATO. Ukraine’s Parliament passed legislation in 2019 to codify the pursuit of NATO membership. But Russia sees NATO as a hostile military alliance and has made it clear for many years that it will not accept Ukrainian entrance into NATO. American foreign-policy experts, including Jeffrey Sachs and none other than U.S. diplomat George Kennan, who authored the U.S. policy of containment of the Soviet Union back in 1947, have warned the NATO issue could lead to big problems.
The general view in the West is that Ukraine is being asked to make all the concessions. When a reporter asked Trump during a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store what concession Putin has made, he said, “Stopping the war, stopping from taking the whole country, pretty big concession.”
After the strikes, Russia broadcast fresh threats through its state media organ RT. On Thursday, RT published a piece titled, “Western aggression could trigger Russian nuclear response — security chief.” Russian Secretary of National Security Council Sergey Shoigu said Moscow reserves the right to launch a nuclear strike in response to Western military aggression. The threat was a response to “discussions in Western Europe about a possible deployment of troops to Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal, as well the EU’s plan to re-militarize the bloc.” Shoigu said Moscow is “closely monitoring the military preparations of the EU countries” and that nuclear weapons may be used “in the event of aggression” against Russia or Belarus. Moreover, Shoigu warned of a war between Russia and NATO:
The presence of foreign troops in Ukraine could provoke a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO, potentially escalating into a nuclear war.
European leaders have talked about stationing “peacekeeping” troops in Ukraine to prevent future Russian aggression. Also, earlier this month, Ukraine’s European allies pledged $24 billion in new military support.
And now that the United States will no longer subsidize Europe’s security, the continent’s nations have already begun arming up. Early in March, 27 European leaders signed off on a plan to increase defense spending. The plan would put about 150 billion euros from the European Union’s unused funds toward military purchases. Germany has also vowed to lift fiscal restriction as part of efforts to rearm.
The Nordic countries are pooling together their resources to shore up the capabilities to stave off a potential attack from Russia. In February, Denmark decided to raise military spending by 70 percent over the next two years. Its special forces have decades of experience deploying to parts of Afghanistan and Iraq. Denmark is combining its power with Sweden, Finland, and Norway to forge a regional security coalition. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Sweden has an advanced defense industry that makes submarines, battle tanks, and supersonic jet fighters; Norway brings maritime surveillance and fighting capabilities in the Arctic; and Finland has one of the largest standing armies and artillery forces per capita in Europe.
From where the Russians stand, this is turning Europe into a “source of global risk.” Timofey Bordachev writes at RT:
Today, facing its own developmental dead ends, Western Europe once again turns outward in search of a scapegoat. This time, the preferred solution is militarization, supposedly to counter a “Russian threat.”
The irony is obvious. The EU’s grand vision of integration is in disarray. Its socio-economic models are faltering. Britain, now outside the bloc, is no better off.Aging populations, failing welfare systems, and uncontrolled migration are stoking nationalist sentiments and pushing elites toward more radical postures. Finland, once neutral and pragmatic, now also leans into anti-Russian rhetoric to mask its growing internal malaise.