As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office with a goal of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Biden administration officials are warning that a "premature cease-fire" would benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Secretary of State Lloyd Austin and Defense Secretary Antony Blinken combined to write a Tuesday opinion column for The New York Times in which they claim the incoming Trump administration has been given leverage to negotiate a pro-Ukraine peace deal due to their work the past three years.
The secretaries insist the administration's support of Ukraine, as well as using sanctions to hurt Russian finances, have weakened Moscow's forces.
They also warn Trump about squandering leverage built under President Joe Biden and withholding money and arms from Ukraine.
"This leverage should be used to end Mr. Putin's war and usher in a durable peace that ensures Ukrainians can deter further Russian aggression, defend their territory, and thrive as a sovereign democracy," Austin and Blinken wrote.
"That is what peace through strength would look like. But because Mr. Putin retains his imperial ambitions, giving up our leverage now by cutting aid and forcing a premature cease-fire would simply allow Mr. Putin to rest, refit, and eventually reattack. This would be peace through surrender, which would be no peace at all."
Instead, they call for more support of Ukraine.
"Pursuing a policy of peace through strength is vital to Ukraine's survival and America's security," the two secretaries wrote. "The United States and its allies and partners must continue to stand by Ukraine and strengthen its hand for the negotiations that will someday bring Mr. Putin's war of aggression to an end."
Austin and Blinken wrote that Putin has failed to achieve his strategic goals of replacing Ukraine's democratically elected government with "a Kremlin puppet regime" and exposing the West as weak.
A big reason for that, they say, has been "steadfast American leadership."
"All this is a testament to the resilience of Ukraine's troops and the strength of Ukraine's people," they wrote. "It is also the product of steadfast American leadership, which has rallied allies and partners worldwide to help Ukraine survive the Kremlin's imperial onslaught. The United States should build on this historic success, not squander it."
The two men also seemed to take an indirect shot at Trump, who reportedly wants NATO members to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.
"One of us, Secretary Austin, has convened the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a global coalition that has coordinated military support to Ukraine, 25 times. Its members have committed $126 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine, almost half of which has come from non-U.S. members," the men wrote.
"As a percentage of G.D.P., more than a dozen contact group members now provide more security assistance to Ukraine than the United States does. And these investments in Ukraine are delivering returns here at home, boosting our defense industrial base and creating good jobs. Mr. Putin's aggression even spurred the very outcome he had sought to prevent: NATO is now bigger, stronger, and more united than ever."
Austin and Blinken said Russia has suffered more than 700,000 dead and injured since the war began in February 2022.
"Now [Putin] increasingly faces a painful dilemma: either endure high casualties for minimal gains, perhaps order a mobilization that triggers domestic instability, or negotiate seriously with Ukraine to end his war," they wrote.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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