Exemplary resistance

Kiev has braved 100 days of aggression. It still stands tall and is kicking back. The fact that the Kremlin has merely been able to seize a little over 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory, irrespective of a blizzard onslaught, has lessons to be learnt. The war in the heartland of Eurasia is part of camp politics as both the West and Russia are in an offensive to browbeat each other. It has come at the cost of not only regional peace but a devastating impact on the global economy. Ukraine being the food basket for Asia, Europe and Africa – as well as a hinterland for energy supplies – is in need of an immediate ceasefire, and a firm mechanism to address the political ambitions of both the flanks.

One of the most startling aspects of the war over Kiev is that it wasn’t a walkover for Moscow. It was no déjà vu like Crimea in 2014. Russia could neither subdue an inferior army, nor was it able to capitulate it politically. Likewise, it exposed the hypocrisy and double-standards of NATO and the European Union, who are primarily responsible for this Machiavellian mess in their eastern zone. Had Brussels not lured Kiev with so-called capitalist incentives by promising it a berth in the Union, this fissure could have been avoided. Russia, on its part, was quite categorical as it had made clear that advancement towards the East will be tolerated. The blame of war-making rests over Europe, and the US which had called it a day in Southwest Asia after a disgraced exit from Afghanistan. It is merely playing the fiddle. The cost of destruction, thus, squarely lies on Brussels, Washington and Moscow.

The best decorum to ensure peace and serenity is to make Ukraine an apolitical zone. Current history narrates that Kiev and the entire flank up to Belarus has been under Russian tutelage, and culturally too embedded to it. Changing this nomenclature by the West through meddling is like Moscow camping near Florida on the shores of Cuba. The Kremlin had already contested this strategy and is on record having pledged to retaliate. This nuisance of warmongering must end, so that the agriculture and energy mosaic of the region is reactivated. Ukraine is too sensitive to Russia, and cannot be a lynchpin for the West, alike.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2022.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.