The war in Ukraine rages on, and the death toll only rises, now well into the hundreds of thousands. The fact that there is no end in sight to the war becomes increasingly obvious. As billions fresh off the printer and hundreds of mothballed tanks find their way to Ukraine from America and NATO, many are asking why we need to support Ukraine. The truth is that not only do we not need to support Ukraine, we have numerous interests in seeing the war end instead of propping up Ukraine with endless support in money and weapons, without which they would not be able to survive.
Our government believes that Russia can be convinced to abandon this war if Ukraine takes back all its claimed land, including territory Russia believes is rightfully theirs. President Zelensky of Ukraine himself has stated that Ukraine will accept no settlement that does not return Ukraine’s full territory, including Crimea, Luhansk, and Donbas. However, Russia has annexed Crimea, Luhansk, and Donbas, as well as Kherson and other areas, and it is unlikely they could ever be persuaded to give them up. Public support for the war in both Russia and Ukraine has forced the struggle into a bloody war of attrition that neither side is willing to end.
The idea that Russia will lose this war of attrition to Ukraine is preposterous, as Russia has more than three times the population and a 3-million-man army. With failed attack after failed attack on both sides, the war will not end under the current circumstances. The continuation of the war is the worst possible option for America, worse than either Russian victory or a negotiated settlement, due to our three main interests in seeing this war end: economic, diplomatic, and humanitarian.
Economic Costs of the War
Our economic interest in seeing the war end is clear. Our embargo against Russian oil, which makes up 12% of the global market, has seen gas prices shoot up and Russian fertilizer has become more expensive, causing fertilizer prices to increase. Secondly, the longer the war goes on, the more devastated Ukraine becomes, and the fewer people are left in it to work the land. Ukraine produces over 10% of the global food supply, and a continued loss of production would see food prices continue to rise- and risen they have in America. The price of food-at-home has increased no less than 11% in the United States, up from just 3.5% increase last year, in large part due to the war. Furthermore, the money that we send to Ukraine only contributes to a growing national debt of $33 trillion and counting.
How can the US afford to send billions to Ukraine while debt and the interest associated is only growing? The answer is by going into even deeper debt, further worsening our debt spiral. This reckless spending is justified by the threat of a diametrically evil boogeyman- the evil Russian bear out to invade us and our allies any moment we let our guard down, a narrative meant to create an enemy for the American people to fear enough that we pay trillions into a bloated bureaucracy rather than seek any form of diplomacy with Russia.
Diplomatic Crisis with Russia
The diplomatic situation with Russia is another reason the war must end. It is doubtless that a total Russian victory would be a catastrophe, not only because overcoming soldiers trained, funded, and equipped by NATO would diminish Russia’s fear of NATO, not only because a total Russian victory would utterly humiliate NATO, but because a total Russian victory would leave Russia to do whatever it sees fit with Ukraine. The reality is that Russia considers a large part of Ukraine rightfully theirs, and the rest to be so strategically important to them that they cannot risk it in NATO.
Due to this, Russia simply will not back down. Putin is too invested in the war, the Russian military industry is making too much money, and the Russian people are too emotionally attached to the war for Putin to back down. Russia’s moves in the war also show that they will not back down- Russia has formally annexed several territories taken since the war’s beginning. Ukraine will not back down either unless they get all the land considered rightfully theirs, so peace between them is out of the question while both of them are still capable of fighting. This leaves the fate of Ukraine in a war of attrition, and Russia is simply too large, full of people, and militarily powerful to be beaten by Ukraine in a war of attrition.
The reality of the situation is that Ukraine cannot last forever, and NATO aid is simply prolonging the war. When Russia eventually wins, or Ukraine becomes too exhausted to fight any longer, there will be peace with Russia dictating the terms, and we would come away not only humiliated but with Russia now enraged at us and even more suspicious of us for having propped up an enemy regime. Diplomatic relations with Russia cannot be maintained while we fund a nation they are at war with, and an even more diplomatically hostile Russia is dangerous due to its influence over Europe through the natural gas and oil pipelines. The war in Ukraine’s effect on our diplomatic relations with Russia could persuade the Russians into even more aggressive action, costing even more lives.
The Cost in Lives
In fact, the cost of lives is another reason that the war must end. Our third and most philosophically powerful interest in ending the war is humanitarian. The war has cost tens to hundreds of thousands of lives already, and millions have already been displaced or fled. Hundreds of thousands more are maimed or wounded, and the numbers will only increase the longer the war goes on. By supplying Ukraine with arms and ammunition, we only ensure that more will die, and the war will go on longer. We must ask ourselves- Would we send our own fathers, brothers, sons, to die in Ukraine? If we would not, then why do we send someone else’s father, someone else’s brother, and someone else’s son to die in Ukraine? What idea do we hold so great that others must die for it, but take so lightly that we will not risk ourselves? By sending arms and propping up Ukraine, we ourselves bear some of the blame for the war. America has no just or pragmatic reason to serve as the merchant of death in a war it is unwilling to involve itself in.
Our failure is evident in Ukraine, as our government is acting against its own interest by keeping an economically harmful, diplomatically catastrophic, and immoral war going at a horrific cost in money and lives. However, we can still stop the war. By leveraging the aid we have sent to Ukraine, we can force Ukraine to come to a settlement with Russia that gives Russia enough land and promises that they will be satisfied. Russia’s demands are harsh, but they will take even more if the war is allowed to run to its conclusion. What is certain is that for the good of the American people, especially those who cannot afford the costs of the sanctions, for the good of future generations who will be saddled with debt only being increased by aid to Ukraine, for the good of America’s public image, and for the good of the people of Russia and Ukraine, the war must end. The war will, inevitably, end. We have the choice to end it now, saving billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives, or we will watch it end helplessly.
