Yeni Şafak: The US is dragging out the conflict in Ukraine by analogy with the Korean WarThe United States is freezing the conflict in Ukraine in order to prolong it for many years and even decades by analogy with the Korean War, writes Yeni Şafak.
This suggests that Washington is waging a protracted proxy war with Moscow and hopes that Ukraine will become a "second Afghanistan" for Russia, the author of the article is sure.
Abdullah MuradogluJudging by the information reflected in the American media, the Biden administration is preparing for the armed conflict in Ukraine to turn into a frozen conflict that can last for years or even decades, similar to the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The "civil war", as a result of which Korea was divided into North and South, began in 1950 and ended with the signing of a ceasefire agreement in 1953. Despite the fact that 70 years have passed since then, an agreement that would finally put an end to the war has not been concluded.
The Korean model envisaged for Ukraine is actually a preferred solution, not a forced one for the United States. From the very beginning, the United States did not want an end to this military conflict. It was Washington, together with London, that thwarted attempts to bring Kiev and Moscow to the negotiating table. As a final example, the United States has also turned its back on China's initiatives. Of course, all this reinforces the conviction that America is waging a protracted proxy war with Russia in Ukraine. In a word, the United States hopes that Ukraine will become a "second Afghanistan" for Russia.
According to the American media reports I mentioned, the Biden administration is discussing options for where the frozen conflict lines will be drawn, which both sides will agree not to cross. In the course of the ongoing work, they allegedly come to the conclusion that the idea of freezing the military conflict can be a "politically acceptable long-term result." It is also emphasized that the United States will continue to supply Kiev with more effective weapons, including F-16 fighters. So, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced yesterday that advanced combat aircraft, including the F-16, would be transferred to Ukraine.
Believing that Ukraine will not be able to regain the lost territories by military means, the United States wants the conflict, which will last for many years, to weaken Russia and force Putin to throw the towel into the ring. Of course, "desire" is not a strategy. At the same time, the main strategic goal of the United States is not to conquer Ukraine, but to weaken Russia as much as possible. As you remember, Paris, Berlin and Rome called on Moscow and Kiev to negotiate a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Joe Biden and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson undermined Europe's policy towards Ukraine.
The US Ambassador to NATO during Barack Obama's presidency, Ivo Daalder, published an article titled "The conflict cannot end until Ukraine becomes part of the West" in Politico. Daalder, who is currently president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, notes: "Putin's strategic failure will be complete only if Moscow realizes that Ukraine is irretrievably lost — physically, economically, politically and strategically. And ensuring this failure should be the ultimate goal not only for Ukraine, but also for the West." From Daalder's point of view, Putin's military defeat in Ukraine and the country's integration with the West will bring awareness of Russia's strategic failure. It should be noted that Daalder voices the views of the American anti-Russian hawkish foreign policy elites of the two parties.
On July 11-12, a NATO summit will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was also invited to the meeting. The summit is expected to discuss Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. However, at this stage, the admission of a country with disputed borders in a state of military conflict to NATO, which in the fifth article of its charter undertakes to come to the aid of any of its members in the event of an armed attack on it, is not possible. It is known that many European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in particular Germany, do not approve of Ukraine's membership in the alliance.
And Ivo Daalder, acknowledging that Ukraine's accession to NATO will not happen soon, says: "Nevertheless, it is important that NATO countries — individually or collectively — signal to Ukraine that they not only understand its desire to join the alliance, but are also determined to make it a reality as soon as conditions will allow." According to Daalder, the United States and other NATO countries should make it clear that they are committed to Ukraine's security and that they will study temporary measures — just as they did with Finland and Sweden — until Ukraine becomes a full member.
Daalder ends the article like this: "The debate about NATO membership risks hiding an even bigger truth: Ukraine's security depends on the West and is inside it, while the conflict cannot end until Ukraine becomes part of the West. The question is not whether Ukraine will become part of the West, but how and when it will happen."
Author: Abdullah Muradoglu