If there is one thing about this war in Ukraine right now that is certain, it’s that this war could have been avoided entirely. At least, that’s the way most of us see things.
Even if there was a good reason for Russia to invade Ukraine, there is no reason for the carnage that is happening.
But even Ukrainian President Zelensky believes this all could have been avoided and he’s pointing the finger at who could have prevented it from happening.
Zelensky told Senators that if the U.S. “had started sanctions months ago, there would not have been war.”
Reuters noted just a few days before Russia invaded Ukraine that Biden was “refusing to unleash sanctions on Russia” until Russia invaded, despite numerous officials, including Zelensky, saying that the sanctions could stop the invasion from happening.
“You tell me 100% that there will be war in a few days’ time. What are you waiting for?” Zelensky said before the invasion. “We will not need your sanctions after there is a bombardment, or after our state is shot at, or if we have no more borders, we do not have an economy, or parts of our state is occupied.”
This seems to be the perspective that some of the senators have taken as well. “The sanctions that they want to put on [Russia] are nothing, it’s kind of like a slap on the wrist,” Tuberville said several days before Russia invaded. “We’ve come up with sanctions on the Republican side that are real strong, pre and post, if they come in. So, I think it’s a huge mistake that we haven’t put some sanctions on at the beginning, said, ‘Hey, this is the start. This is how it’s gonna work. And if you think about going in, then they’re gonna get much worse.’ They need to feel that.”
I agree with Tuberville, at least initially. I’ll admit that I have some ignorance on exactly what sanctions have taken place at this point because I’ve seen so many from different companies and countries as well, but maybe all of this could have been avoided, or maybe it was inevitable no matter what. Maybe Putin really does just want to send his country into total collapse.
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