FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 6, 2021
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Secretary Blinken met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, suggesting the U.S. could increase security assistance for Ukraine. Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statements in response:
“Aid to Ukraine is not related to U.S. security. The U.S. has no strong interests in Ukraine and no pact that obligates us to help defend it and thus puts U.S. credibility on the line there. Ukraine is a victim of Russia, which attacked it in 2014, seizing Crimea, and threatens to attack again. But the fact that we sympathize with Ukraine does not establish that we should provide Kyiv with an endless stream of military aid. The question to ask is what end state Washington wants to use aid to produce.
“If the point is to fix the imbalance of power between Ukraine and Russia, the aid is futile. Ukraine has 209,000 active-duty military personnel to Russia’s 900,000, and a 1,200-mile land border with Russia to defend. Its defense spending in 2021 is projected to be $4.3 billion, less than a tenth of Russia’s, which also has more than ten times Ukraine’s GDP.
“We should ask whether we are encouraging Ukraine to adopt a security strategy where it becomes a western protectorate, rather than staying neutral between Russia and NATO. In other words, we may be preventing Ukraine from adopting the policies its geography demands and thus prolonging conflict there. Making Ukraine a proxy in fight with Russia we won’t sacrifice Americans for is no great favor.”
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