https://www.gmfus.org/news/strategic-patience-can-secure-victory-ukraine
Strategic Patience Can Secure Victory in #Ukraine
The West must overcome fatigue, avoid the cease-fire trap, and restore its resolve.
DECEMBER 18, 2023
by
Kristine Berzina
Jackson Janes
..."When cease-fire advocates argue that political willingness to support Ukraine is eroding, others need to be clear that such willingness is within the #Western #allies’ ability to control. Western leaders can shape the narrative of what is happening in Ukraine and what is at stake, and not meekly accept the idea—actively and persistently encouraged by #Putin’s misinformation machine—that a battlefield stalemate is an advantage for Russia. Those who cite polls highlighting eroding public support must acknowledge that political leadership is shaping public views, and the more leaders equivocate and undermine support for Ukraine, the more their partisans will embrace such skepticism. Even then, support for Ukraine funding, when compared to support for funding anything else in the United States at home or abroad, remains relatively strong and bipartisan.
Those insisting that the West needs to press Ukraine to seek a cease-fire and pursue a diplomatic solution need to acknowledge the reality of the choice they are advocating. They would hand Putin an unearned victory, prevent Ukraine from living free from fear of the next attack, undermine European security for years to come, and convince China and other autocratic challengers that Western resolve to defend its interests is fickle and easily distracted. By rejecting the false narrative of fatigue and reaffirming our political willingness to support Ukraine, we in the West can, in contrast, diminish Russia’s threat to its neighbors and to the United States, send a clear message to China on Taiwan, reinforce global stability and order, and strengthen a young and vigorous democracy against a nefarious autocratic neighbor that seeks its demise."...
