Returning to pre-2014 Ukraine borders ‘unrealistic’ and ‘illusory’ goal, US defence secretary says.
Continuing his speech, US defence secretary Peter Hegseth calls for “realistic assessment of the battlefield.”
“We want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognising that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective.”
“Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering.”
If the war stops today without returning a massive chunk of territories, the underground Ukrainian resistance will go on. There will be no war, but expect shootings, bomb on planes carrying russian officials, hostage takings… And probably not only in Russia or Ukraine.
Plus the added risk of US troops entering a war because it would just have signaled to Putin that with sacrificing under 1% of his population (800 000/ 130 million) is getting yourself territory like Poland or the Baltic’s because the USA will always end up folding in front of their adversaries.
It’s not a solution.
If that’s how it goes I’m perfectly happy to let them fight it, provided my tax dollars no longer have to be involved.
“Cutting my nose off is a small price to pay if I get to spite my face”
You all make these arguments about every war that is, supposedly, going to turn into WW3 and have for decades.
Meanwhile, history tells us that not only are you basically always wrong, but usually we’ve sunk a trillion-plus dollars into a quagmire. In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, it was several trillion, and you all told us that it would only take a few months to liberate Iraq and it would cost, at most, tens of billions. (Because that’s what Dubya told the news and your worldview is wholly based on what your preferred news program tells you.)
So no, I’m sorry, but you don’t get to pretend to be right here simply because your preferred news program and social media algorithm are assuring you that you are.
You’re not democratic. You don’t care about freedom. You’re just warmongers, and a less-than-ideal ending to a war is preferable to permanent war.
Oops, you gave it away: that’s what sympathizers said about Hitler invading Czechoslovakia. It’s actually almost verbatim. Don’t tell me you really thought you could fool me.
Let me be clear: your most deeply-held convictions of ideology are, at their fundamental and basal level, craven and shameful. You need to humble yourself and question the bases of your ideas instead of arrogantly persisting in the delusion that your belief system has validity. Your inhumanity is disturbing.
Ending a war vs ending a war as fairly as possible are two vastly different things.
Putin, like the orange butt plug, is a bully … and giving into a bully doesn’t stop the bullying. It only encourages the bully to continue being an asshole.
Appreciate the much more honest answer. And I get that point of view: europeans don’t care much about the war in Sudan for example.
I agreed that EU especially, should contribute more to the defense effort of Ukraine.