'The West Must Stop Worrying About What Putin May Do Next – And Make Him Worried About What We Will Do Next'
Two years on from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall explains how the West can help finally turn the tide against the Kremlin
What a difference a year makes.Â
This time last year, the West was patting itself on the back for its robust response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest phase of which (counting Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014) began two years ago today. Â
The Euro-Atlantic alliance seemed to have rediscovered its mojo in backing Ukraine. For once, we were actually matching words with concrete deeds, as we imposed tough sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his cronies, weaned ourselves off Russian oil and gas, and scoured our armouries for weapons to donate to Ukraine. Â
We also had an inspiring leader around which to rally, in the form of President Volodymyr Zelensky – the Winston Churchill of our time. World leaders competed with each other to pay him fulsome tribute and secure the ultimate power-selfie with him. Â
With Western backing, the Ukrainians had survived a harsh winter, held on to most of their territory, and even succeeded in putting the Russian military on the back foot. At one point last year, Putin’s very regime seemed on the verge of collapse, during the heady few days of the march on Moscow by former Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his cohorts. Â
After a wobbly few years within the Western alliance, many of us began to hope that perhaps we were more resilient than our enemies believed. Perhaps democracy had not gone soft. Perhaps some of Zelensky’s magic would rub off on us. Perhaps we still had it in us to stand up to dictators – sending a message not just to the one in the Kremlin, but to others around the world watching to see how we handled this moment.   Â
Fast forward to today and the picture seems much grimmer. Â
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