President Donald Trump has long been committed to establishing peace in Ukraine. But Vladimir Putin’s intransigence has left the United States with only one option: reestablishing peace through strength.
Hudson experts have explained what Washington can do to ramp up pressure on Putin and bring an end to the war. Key recommendations are below.
Arm Ukraine by strengthening US cooperation with European partners.
There is no way to help Ukraine fend off Russian aggression without an abundant supply of American arms, strategic enablers, and intelligence support. By establishing a European fund to purchase American weapons, facilitating technology transfers, and deepening NATO partnerships, the West can demonstrate sustained commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and reinvigorate the transatlantic relationship at a critical geopolitical moment.
Weaken Putin’s hand in negotiations by restricting Russian energy sales and banking.
Double down on secondary sanctions.
Deploying muscular secondary sanctions on China, Hong Kong, and other purchasers of Russian oil and suppliers of sensitive military technology is one important tool. A good start would be Senator Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill on purchasers of Russian oil, which is pending in the Senate with 84 cosponsors. Equipping Ukraine with tools for missile defense and offensive weapons such as [Army Tactical Missile Systems] and [High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems] is equally important. Helping Ukraine finance its efforts by using frozen Russian reserves sequestered in Europe is the third pillar of effective Western support.
Help Ukraine impose greater military costs on Russia.
The US should assist Ukraine in creating and building its own capabilities to strike Russian naval and air bases in the Krasnodar Krai and Rostov Oblasts of Russia, which border occupied parts of Ukraine including Crimea. Of course, Ukraine has already successfully launched attacks against some Russian bases, ports, airfields, and headquarters. The US should support and encourage those attacks. Additionally, Russia continues to move Iranian goods and smaller Russian naval ships between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov through the Volga-Don Canal. This makes the canal a fair target.
Think boldly and creatively about weapons.
The administration should show strength in the weapons it sends to Ukraine. So it should continue providing Kyiv with more of the weapons it has already used successfully, and consider arming Ukraine with longer-range weapons such as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Block III and Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER).