Here is a taste of the editorial:
…Vladimir Putin is giving a master class in dangerous and destructive leadership and making it all the more important that President Biden and other nations stand resolutely together in the face of threats, feints and misinformation and remain disciplined and energized in confronting Mr. Putin. He is clearly playing a long game, and the West should continue to prepare for that and make clear, as Mr. Biden has done, that the Russian president is acting unacceptably and will pay consequences for his actions.
The scope of Mr. Putin’s professed ambition is alarming and bewildering for much of the world. As Mr. Biden asked, “Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors?”
All this makes clear that Mr. Putin’s attack is not primarily about NATO or security. It’s all about his xenophobic, imperial and misguided notion that Ukraine was inherently an appendage of Russia, its independence a historical fluke and its rulers usurpers. His recognition of separatist states in Ukraine extended not only to enclaves controlled by pro-Russian forces but also to entire provinces, amounting to a major chunk of Ukrainian territory that includes the important port of Mariupol.
All this makes clear that Mr. Putin’s attack is not primarily about NATO or security. It’s all about his xenophobic, imperial and misguided notion that Ukraine was inherently an appendage of Russia, its independence a historical fluke and its rulers usurpers. His recognition of separatist states in Ukraine extended not only to enclaves controlled by pro-Russian forces but also to entire provinces, amounting to a major chunk of Ukrainian territory that includes the important port of Mariupol.
Read the entire piece here.
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