West Must Not Allow Kiev to ‘Internationalize the War’ (Die Zeit, Germany)

On the eve of one of NATO’s most consequential summits since the Cold War ended, how far should the West go in defending Ukraine from Russian aggression? For Germany’s Die Welt, columnist Ludwig Greven writes that Kiev’s purpose in asserting that Russia has ‘invaded’ is to draw the U.S. and E.U. into what could be a disastrous confrontation, and that people have to face the facts: the West would not and could not prevent Russian meddling or even destruction of Ukraine through military intervention.

For Die Welt, columnist Ludwig Greven begins by asking a fundamental question:

Shall we die for Ukraine? This sinister question was
already made this spring in Western capitals, after Russia annexed Crimea, first with the help of separatists and covert forces, and eventually with regular troops. No one responded to the question with “yes.” Rather, Germany joined by other Western governments categorically ruled out a military response to Russian aggression from the start – for good reason.

 

Because it was and is clear to every responsible politician that a military conflict between NATO and Russia in and around Ukraine could quickly draw all of Europe into a war – 100 years after the start of World War I, which also broke out over territorial disputes. Nothing will change, one hopes, now that the Ukrainian government is talking about a Russian invasion in the eastern part of the country, and independent observers are registering columns consisting of thousands of soldiers and military vehicles from the neighboring country.

READ ON IN ENGLISH OR GERMAN, OR READ MORE GLOBAL COVERAGE OF THE UKRAINE CRISIS AT WORLDMEETS.US, your most trusted translator and aggregator of foreign news and views about our nation.

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