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The United States and the War in Ukraine (Part Two)
As an issue, the war between Ukraine and Russia is a very complex, complicated situation. I hear both left and right criticizing the Trump administration on its handling of the war. When you listen carefully, you hear something about support for Ukraine. What in fact is support for Ukraine?
Support for Ukraine?
People often use “support” in a very loose manner. I find that the word “support” lacks significant commitment. Support means a small percentage of a nations gross domestic product (GDP) toward financial aid. Approximately 0.67% of the combined GDP of major European nations has been given in support of Ukraine. If Russia began dominating Ukraine in the war, indicating that Russia would defeat and gain control of Ukraine, would any European nation send ground troops to join Ukraine for the purpose of stopping this?
Instead of future ground troops, European nations could support Ukraine with a present commitment of ground troops, literally joining Ukraine in its war. Not one nation committed to sending ground troops to join Ukraine against Russia. No nation has committed to sending their own soldiers to fight on the ground against Russia.
The issue of the war between Ukraine and Russia reminds me of the commitment to the rise of oceans due to climate change. Those who express future certain dire circumstances in coastal areas refuse to sell their own coastal properties. This signals the truth of their own adherence to their own ideas about the climate change. They do not commit to act upon their own theories even if they expect more financial aid devoted to this cause. Financial aid encourages war in Ukraine and a cataclysmic large number of death and destruction for Ukraine.
Ethnic Russians
The ethnic Russian population in Ukraine constitutes approximately 17.3% of the total population, based on the 2001 census, which recorded about 8.3 million individuals identifying as ethnic Russians. This figure includes both those born in Russia and those born in Ukraine who identify as ethnically Russian. Ethnic Russians are predominantly located in specific regions of Ukraine, particularly in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
The Autonomous Republic of Crimea has a significant Russian majority, with approximately 71.7% of its population identifying as ethnic Russian. Ethnic Russians make up about 48.2% of the population of Donetsk Oblast, 58.7% of Luhansk Oblast, and 52.9% of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. 13.1% of Kyiv itself are ethnic Russians. 60 plus percentage of the previously mentioned regions are ethnic Russian, making up a Russian bloc of Ukraine.
Russian Language Laws
Ukraine has implemented a series of legislative measures and policies that have significantly curtailed the use of the Russian language, particularly in areas with substantial ethnic Russian populations. These actions are part of a broader effort to promote the Ukrainian language and reinforce national identity. The Constitution of Ukraine, adopted in 1996, establishes Ukrainian as the sole state language while guaranteeing the free development and protection of minority languages, including Russian.
A 2019 language law in Ukraine explicitly excluded Russian from exemptions granted to other minority languages that are also official languages within the European Union (EU). As such, while some minority languages received protections under specific conditions (e.g., Hungarian or Romanian), Russian did not enjoy similar privileges. A large majority of ethnic Russians opposed the law.
Justification for War
I write about the domination of ethnic Russians in a bloc of Ukrainian regions and this 2019 language law to highlight the complexity of the situation in Ukraine. A multiplicity of significant international issues behind the Ukraine and Russia war also exist. The war is not as simple democratic and not democratic. The actual meaning of democracy according to various factions also further complicates the motivations for the war.
Western democracy fails in its moral standing to judge and then criticize others. Do those advocating for Ukraine in war against Russia have suitable moral basis for justification of the war, when weighing all the factors? I don’t hear very good arguments. The biggest argument I hear, and almost exclusively, is that anyone who does not want Ukraine war against Russia supports Vladimir Putin and everything bad about him.
Biblical Prophecy?
I have not heard much on the subject of Russia in biblical prophecy in recent days, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union. In the 1970s a lot of men preached prophetic passages such as Ezekiel 38 and 39 to defend an attack on Israel by Russia as part of the Great Tribulation period. In their system of interpretation at the time, Russia would battle Red China in the final Battle of Armageddon. Related to current events, that doesn’t look as viable now.
Even though I am a premillennialist by conviction, men might and do differ on some of the fine details. Biblical prophecy, I believe, can and should affect American foreign policy. What scripture says is true. However, men make right decisions to conduct the best activities by relying on the plain meaning of scripture. That becomes increasingly more difficult in a world and its leaders not guided by what God says. Everything is better everywhere with a right application of scripture.
No matter what happens in the world previous to the return of Christ, that won’t change what God foretells after it. For premillennialists, whatever occurs right now is not necessarily a prelude for what will occur after the rapture of the saints before the Tribulation period on earth. The United States does not appear at anything at all prophetic in the Bible. The best approach is a broader one that still does take Israel into strong consideration in U.S. foreign policy.
Israel, Wales, and Complexity of the Issue
Israel supports ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, primarily through mediation and humanitarian aid rather than military involvement or outright condemnation of Russia. At no time did Israel send weapons to Ukraine. Through the Ukraine and Russia war, Israel maintained relations with Russia. Over 100,000 Israeli citizens live in Russia and 80,000 in Moscow. 1.5 million Israelis or 17.5% of the Israeli population speak Russian. Over 400,000 pilgrims from Russia visited Israel in 2015-2016.
To understand the complexity of regional foreign wars, one might consider that England forced Wales into the United Kingdom. This occurred in 1283 but by law in the Wales Acts by Henry VIII in 1535 and 1542. England forced Wales into its kingdom by means of military conquest. Wales had and still has its own language. The United Kingdom by law allows Wales to have its own language.
I support diplomatic efforts by the United States to end the Ukraine-Russia War. The other side does not offer any viable or reasonable solutions. Left and right who oppose the diplomatic efforts, including the media, should support the efforts toward peace by not sabotaging the actions of diplomacy with Ukraine and Russia. They should stop hindering this peace process.
The United States and the War in Ukraine (Part One)
A Similar Series I Wrote in 2023
Like the rest of the world, I hope for the gospel to spread to and in both Russia and the Ukraine. Jesus will some day reign over the whole earth and bring true peace. In the meantime, nations must operate together in a sin-cursed world and James 4:1-2 regularly comes true:
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
War is the reality of this age, yet something nations should attempt to avoid, not at all costs though. What about the war between Russia and Ukraine? Some call it a proxy war between Russia and the United States. Europe, right on the doorstep of Ukraine, does not pay for the war despite its close proximity. Neither does it send any of its own men to die with the Ukrainians in their fight against Russia.
It’s easy to sympathize with evangelical believers in Ukraine. Men spread the gospel, make disciples, train leaders, and churches start in that country. Many, I’m sure, are sadly dying in this war. Whatever good thoughts and genuine prayers for the believers of Ukraine, this is not the basis for making a decision on what’s right for the United States to do in this situation. Thousands of Christians inhabited the Roman Empire when it fell.
Before I launch into my opinion on the conflict, I will sketch out some history for us to consider.
History
Pre World War 2
Historians agree that Russia started by at least the 10th century. Kyiv, now Ukraine, was a vital part of the earliest iteration of Russia between 882 and 1240, when the Mongols invaded. Ivan the Terrible later became the first Tsar of Russia in 1547. Peter the Great declared the Russian Empire in 1721 at which time Kyiv became a part. Kyiv remained in Russia until the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 during World War I (see map of Europe in 1910). Ukraine briefly became independent, embracing Communism.
Ukraine was a founding republic of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922. Its borders were adjusted several times during the Soviet period based on administrative decisions made in Moscow. Following World War 2, various international treaties changed Ukraine’s borders further (with little to no world protest) as it gained territories such as Western Ukraine from Poland and parts from Romania and Czechoslovakia due to shifting post-war boundaries.
Post World War 2
U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had earlier granted the Soviet Union diplomatic recognition in 1933. Later at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 toward the end of World War 2, he, Churchill, and Stalin discussed post-war arrangements for Europe. They drew lines of occupation controlled by each Allied power. This agreement inherently acknowledged that much of Eastern Europe would fall under Soviet influence, and then it did.
Roosevelt wanted to maintain a cooperative relationship with Stalin to ensure Soviet participation in the war against Japan and then post-war peace efforts. This is a reason he opted for the Soviets to capture Berlin first, thinking that would strengthen the U.S. position in negotiations over post-war Europe. FDR, a Democrat, the socialist leaning, liberal political party of the United States jettisoned regions like Ukraine to Stalin.
Post Cold War and NATO Expansion
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, NATO expanded several times to include former Eastern Bloc countries and Baltic states, which Russia perceived and still perceives as a breach of trust based on early assurances from the United States that this would not occur. At a handshake level, American diplomats, such as James Baker, assured Russia against NATO expansion past Eastern Germany. Russia believes the West violated an implicit agreement that NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe to which Putin often refers as justification for his actions.
Many compare the threat of NATO expansion to the Russia border and Ukraine to the Soviets placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States would not allow it.
Motivation
A common refrain in discussions of Russia and Ukraine is an expression of democracy. The United States must support democracy across the world. One could call this a doctrine of foreign policy. The present administration at least questions this doctrine and its consistency in Europe. Europe claims democracy, but it looks like “selective democracy,” which isn’t democracy at all. J.D. Vance in a speech in Munich brought out the selectiveness of European freedom, especially targeting religious freedom and freedom of speech. I haven’t heard really any answer on this from Europe.
Thousands are dying in Ukraine and will keep dying. Ukraine will not win the war. I’m not saying Russia did well in this war, but they committed to it, have more people, and enough money to keep making weapons. Could Ukraine win? No. Not just Europe, but the U. S. military would need to join in the fight. Europe does not show a true commitment to Ukraine. It pretends commitment with no endgame. At most Ukraine could inflict more damage on Russia, a very risky proposition, because Russia has nuclear weapons and a growing incentive to use them.
European Support
After the Zelensky live-televised oval office meeting with the President and others, Zelensky travelled to Europe to receive immediate support from European leaders. What does this mean? Europe has no serious proposal. It barely supported Ukraine. It dedicates an infinitesimal percentage of its budget to its own defense. Europe didn’t send troops to fight with Ukraine. Nations like the United Kingdom don’t protect their own borders, let alone Ukraine. They have emaciated, weak militaries that alone might serve as a speed bump for Russia.
From my perspective, by supporting Zelensky in public, albeit pretend support, Europe disrespected the present government of the United States, which represents the American people according to a democratic vote. Europe wants American support without giving America respect. European leaders like Starmer and Macron, and then the Canadian Trudeau, undermine a possible peace between Russia and Ukraine to stop this war. They do this without any realistic alternative.
I don’t know of one poll that asks whether the citizens of these European countries want to send troops to join Ukraine to die in its fight against Russia. Why isn’t that question being asked? It’s obvious. Everyone knows that not one nation wants a part of that. The support for Ukraine is a pretend support, essentially a lie. European support for Ukraine means less than nothing. The left and neo-cons in the United States and its media join them in this mass deception.
More to Come
The Globalist and Leftist Institution and Media Use of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Many reading know President Trump’s expressing genius to Putin is his way of playing American leftists. He is also fond in calling those in power, “our stupid leaders.” Those on the left turn this into Trump and his supporters advocating for Putin and Russia. When the media calls Trump a Putin supporter, he doesn’t back away from his “genius” language, because he won’t submit to their lie. This works nicely with the Russia narrative invented by the left between 2016 even until today. They conform that narrative, which is a lie, to the Russian invasion. The globalist left supports the Ukraine, which makes the invasion difficult to sort.
The left didn’t support Ukraine. President Obama gave them blankets. Trump gave them javelins, perhaps the most effective weapon against Russian conventional warfare. Ukraine did not gain NATO membership under any president. The country became useful in the Obama years for Vice President Biden to benefit through its corruption. Ukraine did not gain membership because of a malfeasance utilized by Biden and his son, Hunter. Trump dug into the corruption by asking Zelensky for help with the investigation, attempting to tie U.S. aid to elimination of criminal crookedness. The left impeached Trump for that.
Russia took Crimea under Obama and Biden. Russia invades Ukraine under Biden. Putin does nothing against Trump. Trump hurts Putin, because he increased oil production until the United States became energy independent. The lowered prices hurt Putin more than anything. Look at the gas prices now. This helps Putin, and President Biden does not ban Russian oil exports. The United States then looks to Venezuelan oil production instead of increasing U. S. generation.
Putin in a religious manner sees the Ukraine as Russian. Russian history started with Kiev, the Rus emerging there in the 10th century AD. Vladimir I adopted a unique Russian Orthodoxy in 988. When a cynical Putin became mistrustful of a Communism and a secular state, he embraced his version of religious nationalism, somewhat like a leader of a Moslem nation. Like conservative Jews see Palestine as Israel, Putin sees Ukraine as Russian. His version of Russian Orthodoxy plays a role in his aggression, irrationality, and brutality, much like a grand inquisitor burns heretics at the stake.
Trump understood the nationalistic instinct of Putin. Yes, Putin wants to make Russia great again and with a religious fervor. I’m sure he saw men like Putin in business. He could respect his opposition in the business world and on the world scene without supporting them. He states recognition of their toughness, a trait missing in those who allow homeless to defecate in our streets.
If the media and the Democrat Party cared about Zelensky and Ukraine, why did they not urge Obama or Biden to do more before the invasion? They care now, because they see an opportunity to blame on inflation and the related high gas prices. If they care about border security in the Ukraine, why not in our own country?
The underdog Ukrainians stand against Putin. By nature, Americans reject imperialism. The United States fought an imperialistic power for its own freedom. Americans want a free Ukraine. The left commandeers Zelensky like they did during the impeachment.
The left doesn’t represent freedom. Their wokeness didn’t stand for Hong Kong against China. President Biden and his son Hunter took money from China. The left rejects freedom of speech. They’re for allowing perversion, a college male swimmer winning medals against women in the name of transgenderism. They elevate a transgender general wearing a dress in the United States military. The left doesn’t want the freedom of adversarial speech. They shut-down and cancel political opposition to vaccines, vaccine mandates, Covid origination, Covid restrictions, religious freedom, the Russian conspiracy, critical race theory, and voter fraud. They don’t allow creation in the school system.
First amendment freedom originates for political speech. The left shuts down speech. They control the public schools like Putin puts down his protestors. Theirs and Putins are a religious fervor each with their own totalitarian values.
The United States has its own religion that sacrifices babies to abortion, defunds the police, and stops energy production for their apocalyptic eschatology. When they pose to support the Ukraine, they calculate this for opposition to Trump. They see a political opportunity.
I support the Ukraine. Some doctrine consistent with true American values should guide our present and future involvement. I’m against Putin. However, everyone should understand the left’s intentions of using this war for furthering its own agenda. I don’t know if Putin is worse than the leftists who appropriate the Ukraine to further their insidious causes.
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