The Wall Street Journal
As Washington Fights Over Ukraine, Putin Smiles
While Kyiv comes off as an inept pawn, the spectacle boosts Kremlin efforts to undermine the U.S.’s role as a world leader and model of democracy
[“An inept pawn” – really? Through what looking glass does one get that impression? Hum, maybe for a superficial review of this ugly and unnecessary foray into 21
st
Century American politics. RAM
]
By
Gerald F. Seib
Sept. 30, 2019 9:54 am ET
President Trump’s
now-famous phone call
with the newly elected leader of Ukraine has not only set off an impeachment inquiry. It has provided the ultimate Rorschach test in a hyperpartisan Washington: Most Democrats say they see in the call a grave abuse of power, while most Republicans say they see absolutely nothing untoward in it.
The one person who doubtless sees only benefit, however, resides not in Washington but in Moscow. He is Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The call as revealed in the rough transcript released by the White House last week, as well as the
controversy that now surrounds it
, should have Mr. Putin smiling for multiple reasons. We now know that Mr. Trump preceded the call by withholding military aid to Ukraine, and then, in the conversation itself, says Europe isn’t really serious about helping or defending Ukraine. [
But, we also know that Ukraine did not know about any holds on the aid until sometime after the call. And, of course, had President Zelenskyy known about the hold, he surely would have raised the subject. RAM
]
Both of these will only add to Ukrainians’ feeling they are vulnerable to military pressure from Russia, which is precisely what Mr. Putin wants them to feel. Russia not only seized Crimea from Ukraine and annexed it in 2014 but remains in effective control of parts of eastern Ukraine dominated by forces friendly to it. [
Well, it is a bit more than that. “Forces friendly to …: Putin! How about Russian regulars and all of the forces currently killing Ukrainians under Russian military command? RAM
]
The perception of Ukrainian vulnerability is enhanced by the passage in the transcript of the call in which the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, tells Mr. Trump that Ukraine hopes to buy more Javelin antitank missiles, which Ukraine wants badly in order to better resist any Russian armored assault. Mr. Trump doesn’t promise the missiles; instead, that is the point in the call where he says, “I would like for you to do us a favor.”
The president then asks Mr. Zelensky to help get to the bottom of a question the Trump team has been raising repeatedly: whether Ukrainian officials might have done something to help Democrats in the 2016 election season. That inevitably will create an impression that Ukraine is less a vital national-security interest to the U.S. than simply a pawn in a messy American domestic political grudge match. [
Frankly the fact is that no U.S. administration has - despite admittedly significant aid to Ukraine --ever made it clear either to Ukraine or, more importantly, to Putin that we – the U.S. – understand the genuinely vital national interest we have in Ukraine’s being a free, stable and sovereign nation. Sure, we make the Europeans look embarrassingly weak in recognizing their own vulnerably should Putin succeed in Ukraine, but that is a low bar. RAM
]
Meanwhile, the other controversy aired in the call—the one that actually has sparked the impeachment drive by House Democrats—is the passage in which Mr. Trump seeks Ukraine’s help in looking into the actions of his main Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
The underlying assertion, by now well-aired, is that Mr. Biden pushed for the removal of a Ukrainian corruption investigator, lest he delve into a controversial Ukrainian energy company that had given Mr. Biden’s son a board seat, with a handsome monthly payment.
Mr. Biden actually pushed successfully for the dismissal of the Ukrainian prosecutor on the grounds that he wasn’t aggressive enough in pursuing corruption cases, and Ukrainian officials have said there is no evidence of wrongdoing by either the senior or junior Biden. Still, the Hunter Biden arrangement certainly looks like an unsavory alignment in which he was taking advantage of his father’s prominence in a country badly in need of love from America. [
And, of course, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal pointed out that “unsavory” relationship in 2015!!! No one cared until now? RAM
]
And that, in turn, adds fuel to another Russian charge against Ukraine, which is that its government is hopelessly corrupt and incapable of managing its own affairs effectively. Indeed, one Russian television commentator reportedly declared shortly after the transcript of the phone call was released: “We all know that Ukraine is a symbol of catastrophe.” [
Ah, the never-ending Kremlin narrative which simply and outrageously advances the line that Ukraine really isn’t a country. A line too many of the uneducated and naïve – including a prominent FOX News “celebrity” – buy into. And this is a sad testament to the lack of sophistication and the weak powers of observation of too many in American positions of influence. RAM
]
All that makes Mr. Zelensky look like a novice overseeing a corrupt system, caught in an international power match he can’t control. The appearance that he has to do a political favor for the American president to get what his country needs from Washington harms him—and, in turn, helps Moscow. More than that, it is helpful to Mr. Putin’s goal of compelling Ukraine to come to an accommodation on Moscow’s terms. [
This certainly is the way Putin wants people to see it. But the fact is Ukraine so far is the net loser in all this American turmoil despite not having done anything itself. It would be helpful if on-going analysis would underscore that Ukraine is not the source of this mess. Since its independence Ukraine has rightly benefited in Washington from broad bipartisan support. Ukraine has itself done nothing to cause that support to weaken and it should be a priority of all to remember that and continue support for Ukraine regardless of the current circular gunfire taking place in Washington. RAM
]
Meanwhile, the whole American part of this spectacle—the nation’s two major political figures trading charges of corruption and abuse of power on the eve of an election campaign—is extremely useful to Mr. Putin’s argument that Western democracy hardly offers a model of pristine, well-managed governance that his people should want to emulate.
And that, in turn, is a useful argument for Mr. Putin at a time when thousands of people are in the streets of Moscow pushing for more democracy by protesting the government’s banning of candidates seeking to run for the Moscow City Council.
Perhaps the most important benefit for Mr. Putin, however, is simply this: His goal for years now has been to sow discord and division within the U.S., and thereby weaken America at home and on the world stage. On that front, and thanks to the Ukraine controversy and the impeachment fight now unfolding, things are working nicely for him right now. [
And genuine Western leaders would recognize this and conduct themselves in such a way as to thwart Putin’s mischief. RAM
]
