The Atlantic Daily: The Decisive Moment for the War in Ukraine
As Russia reshuffles its strategy in Ukraine, the West is presented with a key opportunity to influence the outcome of the war, our writer argues.
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As Russia reshuffles its strategy in Ukraine, the West is presented with a key opportunity to influence the outcome of the war, our writer argues.
Vladimir Putin is not backing down. The Russian president said today that peace talks with Ukraine have stalled and that Moscow will not cease military operations until it can claim victory. His comments come at a turning point in the war, where Russia is reportedly refocusing efforts on eastern Ukraine, having withdrawn troops from the area surrounding Kyiv. Our contributing writer Eliot A. Cohen argues that this is a chance for allies to tip the balance of the conflict. Cohen and two other writers share their perspectives on this pivotal moment.
- Russia can be defanged. “Upon what the United States and its allies do in the next few weeks hangs more than the American people realize,” Cohen argues. “The evidence suggests that Russia’s armies can, if met by a well-equipped Ukrainian force, be thoroughly wrecked and defeated.”
- We need to start planning to rebuild Ukraine. “If reconstruction plans are readied now—if financing mechanisms are instituted in this period of strong political will—then Ukrainians in exile will gain confidence to return to their homeland after the war,” David Frum writes.
- And we must preserve democracy at home. “The U.S. will never be a worthy friend to Ukraine unless the Republican Party purges itself of the poisonous influence of its Tucker Carlsons and Marjorie Taylor Greenes, and above all of [Donald] Trump,” George Packer argues.
The rest of the news in three sentences:
(1) At least 29 were hurt including 10 people shot by a gunman in the Brooklyn subway this morning.
(2) The United States logged another month of inflation, with prices rising 8.5 percent year-over-year in March.
(3) Metropolitan Police fined Prime Minister Boris Johnson for breaking lockdown restrictions in 2020.
Tonight’s Atlantic-approved activity:
Travel back to 1977, to a cubicle at Standard Oil. The photographer Chauncey Hare captured the drudgery of office life in order to protest it, Hannah Giorgis writes.
A break from the news:
Buying a house can change one’s perspective.
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