How the U.S. Should Support Ukraine Recently, Russia has been moving their military forces into the neighboring country of Ukraine with the intended goal of trying to take control over some of the land. It is the belief of many people that Russia hopes to divide up Ukraine permanently. The United States government is considering a few different possible responses to the movements being made. One possible solution currently being debated upon is for the United States to send in our own military forces. Although a unified Ukraine is in the best interest of America, the United States should not use military action to help the Ukrainian government push Russia outside its borders. The crisis began last year in November when former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych announced that Ukraine was leaving from an agreement designed to build a bond with the European Union. The government was intending to work more closely with the Russian government in Moscow. As a result, many protestors went out in public and continued to seize the Kiev City Hall in December. Critical events ensued as a few protestors died during a demonstration with the police being involved. Several days later, the prime minister of Ukraine resigned and anti-protest laws were repealed by parliament. Soon after that, violence in the street occurred, leaving as many as twenty-six people dead and hundreds injured. Yanukovych fled the country after a political coup took place and the opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, was released from prison. Soon after that, Oleksandr Turchinov took over and put out a warrant for Yanukovych’s arrest.
Soon after, armed men dressed in Russian military uniforms took control of airports and a Ukrainian military base in the area of Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin assured President Obama that Russia was not encouraging separatists to move Crimea into the Russian Federation. However, some days later, Russia took steps to annex Crimea. In the past weeks, with Russian support, other armed men have entered Ukraine in support of separatist protests. This move was made even after the United States and Europe put some moderate sanctions against Putin’s government. These recent actions have outraged many countries, including the United States. As leaders talk about how they might pressure Russia to leave Ukraine and stop support for separatists, one debated response is sending American troops into Ukraine to defend their borders. Others believe that sanctions and diplomatic pressure are the better way to pressure Moscow. The agreed opinion, especially by Europe and North America, is that Russia has crossed the line with their actions and a response is needed from the international community. A unified Ukraine is very important to the United States as well as American strategic interests. Official diplomatic relations between the United States and Ukraine were officially established back in the year 1991. Since then, the United States has been helping Ukraine become a more democratic state after it became independent from the Soviet Union. Ukraine has made it official that they want to join the European Union so that they can further develop their democracy and strengthen trade with the United States and Europe. Stronger trade would help strengthen the economy of both Europe and the United States. Furthermore, a stable Ukraine could become a model of democracy for democratic leaders in Russia who want to show their people how closer ties to the West are quite valuable.
In 1994, a treaty was signed by the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, and Ukraine that assured national security to Ukraine. In exchange, Ukraine would not develop nuclear weapons. If this treaty were to be ignored, it would hurt the standing of the United States and overall stability in Ukraine. It might also cause countries to think that they need to develop stockpiles of weapons in order to be safe.
It is true that the American military is still the strongest in the world and has the ability to move soldiers and weapons into the Ukraine region. In fact, President Obama has already sent a small number of troops to Poland. Many experts believe that the U.S. could arm the Ukrainian military with some weapons and equipment, and that would help Ukraine keep Russia away from important cities and regions.
However, sending American troops to Ukraine in an attempt to get Russian forces out or make Ukraine more secure would be very costly for the United States with their present fiscal burden and could also potentially lead to significant loss of life. The United States is just coming out from a time of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both wars cost the government a huge financial sum that has made a major contribution to the debt that we are in at the moment. Sending in military forces would set the United States back even further since we cannot really afford to pay for all of the necessary aspects of war. Another drawback from deploying military troops into Ukraine would be just how dangerous the combat could become. The troops would be miles away from United States bases, which would give them less of an advantage. Russian troops would be nearby and therefore would have the tactical advantage that could put all of the American soldiers’ lives at stake.
In addition, sending American forces to Ukraine would lead to a major decrease in public morale. The United States has been involved in several conflicts over the last few decades and have lost many brave soldiers to combat. As a result, American citizens are tired of being involved in wars and feel that the deployment of military men and women needs to stop as well. It would be unwise to continue tearing soldiers away from their loved ones and deploying them overseas into combat zones where they could potentially lose their lives. This does not mean that the United States should do nothing in response to Russia entering Ukraine. If it were to be firmly carried out, a combination of both diplomacy and economic sanctions could put enormous pressure on Russia to pull back from Ukraine without putting American lives at risk. Russia’s economy is currently full of problems and significantly weak. By placing sanctions on Russia, the United States would hurt the Russian economy even more and it would become very costly for the Russian government. This would have a major effect on Russian businesses. International businesses would become reluctant to trade or invest in the Russian economy. Over time, the business community would put a lot of pressure on Putin’s government. This would force the Russian government to comply with the terms of the United States.
The European Union has united together behind the use of sanctions, even though the sanctions are not as strong as we would like. Many European economies have been hurting themselves, but are in still of full support of the sanctions being placed on Russia. Even though the members of the United Nations often disagree on issues, they have been voting by large numbers to take a stand against Russian actions in Ukraine. The unified states of the European Union will be able to focus on Putin and pressure him to withdraw from his movements in Ukraine. They are proving to Russia that ignoring international law is an unsupported and unpopular move. The movements being made by the West are working to their advantage, since it would be very unwise for Russia to ignore the law of so many countries. The non-military movements being made by the West seem to be beginning to take a significant toll on Russia. Studies have shown that the recent sanctions being placed on the country are making the surrounding countries buy less products from Russia. Ukraine is refusing to purchase gas and energy from their neighboring country. Eventually, this will hit the Russian economy where it hurts. If America increases prices on their exports, the pressure would become even greater. Russia relies on the money they get from selling oil and gas. If there are fewer buyers, then they will lose money and jobs will be cut. In modern times, using military force is not the only effective tool for pressuring governments that violate international standards for agreements. Not many countries are taking Russia’s side in their effort to divide Ukraine. Even though the West may not seem like they have been reacting very quickly to the Russian actions in Crimea, they have recently begun to increase diplomatic and economic pressure that will help Ukraine without costing billions in military spending or risking American lives.

Works Cited
Berman, Ilan. "What Putin Is Costing Russia." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 20 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Mauldin, William, Carol E. Lee, and Jay Solomon. "U.S.-Russia Relations Come Full Circle after Ukraine." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 20 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
"U.S. Relations with Ukraine." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 30 July 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
USA Today. "Timeline: Key Events in Ukraine." USA Today. Gannett, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

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http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66711 http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2014/04/07/washington-should-not-defend-ukraine-or-expand-nato-u-s-should-shift-responsibility-for-europes-defense-to-europe/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/28/ukraine-military-prepares-for-russia-invasion/7004849/