The Ukraine War. The U.S. moves the goal posts.
Negotiations remain elusive.
When will there be negotiations and talks to end the killing in Ukraine?
In the Spring the news was filled with reports that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had gone badly for Putin and it seemed only a matter of time until he was defeated, perhaps overthrown.
A Putin defeat certainly seemed to justify the U.S. and NATO sending more weapons, urging Ukraine to fight on to every last Ukrainian.
“ ‘For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,’ Mr. Biden said Saturday, his cadence slowing for emphasis.”
It appeared that for all intents and purposes Biden was calling for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to be ousted.
But Biden’s aides quickly insisted that the remark — delivered in front of a castle that served for centuries as a home for Polish monarchs — was not intended as an appeal for regime change.
Just a slip of the tongue?
A month later, the Times reported that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared that America’s goal is to see Russia “weakened” as a military power.
The Times said that Austin was “acknowledging a transformation of the conflict, from a battle over control of Ukraine to one that pits Washington more directly against Moscow.”
It seems to me that Austin was admitting that the war had less to do with helping Ukraine and more to do with a return to tactics we saw in the Cold War where Big Powers use regional disputes as proxies for their larger ambitions.
Now, many months later, it does not seem that the war has gone as badly for Putin as first reported.
Or as well for Ukraine.
Today’s NY Times suggests that the goal posts have moved.
They present three scenarios, none involving regime change, Russian defeat or a quick victory for Ukraine and the West.
And no talk of negotiations for peace.
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