Collins, Kutelia: Get Russia right. End the ‘resets’ and win the peace

For over three decades U S resets with Russia have failed Since the collapse of the Soviet Union successive American presidents have entered office and engaged with Russia under the illusion that personal relationships with Russia s leaders mutual economic interest and appeasement of Russian demands would transform Russia s role in the world Each reset failed So too did Biden s protocol of keeping Ukraine on life sponsorship while revealing fear of provoking Putin President Trump has an opportunity to change this To do so he should look back to Reagan the last American president who got Russia right Only by getting Russia right can Trump end the bloodshed in Ukraine That means recognizing who Putin is adopting a agenda of peace through strength and consistently enforcing it When Putin betrayed the Alaska peace agenda Trump began to see this He in recent days condemned Putin s attacks on civilians and even declared Ukraine to be capable of preeminence This past week he imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies the first on Russia since January Trump s turn is a welcome shift from years of flattering and incentivizing Putin Even Trump s proposed deal territory for peace fell flat Russia s dictator wants more Appeasing and negotiating with Putin has failed for decades America s pattern of na vet and capitulation reached its nadir under Obama who blamed Russian aggression on Bush and NATO expansion Remember Hillary Clinton pressing the big red Reset button with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov just six months after Russia invaded Georgia Their Reset ended in Putin s seizure of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine Without Baltic Polish and Romanian membership in NATO we would undoubtedly be facing a wider war nowadays NATO s strength not appeasement has deterred Russian imperialism from seizing more of Europe President Biden s agenda since mid- exhibited a veneer of strength but its incoherence failed Ukraine and damaged American credibility Belated incomplete sanctions straightjacketing Ukraine s ability to use American weapons and trepidation at Putin s nuclear saber-rattling encouraged Russia to seize more territory Insufficient piecemeal sanctions half-heartedly implemented allowed Russia s military to rebuild and grow Biden kept Ukraine alive But he refused to help Ukraine win and he refused to let Russia lose Trump s strategy should be based on a realistic understanding of Russia and the pursuit of American values and interests Trump should revisit the Reagan Administration s National Protection Decision Directive which recognize d that Soviet aggressiveness has deep roots in the internal system Reagan saw the USSR for what it was an evil empire that not only repressed the freedom of its own citizens but also sought to overthrow democracy in the West Reagan assumed like Kennedy Truman and Roosevelt that America should promote human liberty This clarity pushed U S defense resources reinvigorated NATO and intimidated Soviet leadership who ultimately recognized that they could not compete Reagan empowered Afghanistan s resistance to the Soviet invasion escalating Soviet losses and fueling discontent When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power Reagan also used diplomacy to press the Soviet leader to allow religious freedom refrain from force in Eastern Europe withdraw from Afghanistan and tear down the Berlin Wall American strength and resolve induced Gorbachev to respond The leaders of two superpowers once locked in a Cold War confrontation became peacemakers The groundbreaking INF agreement the freeing of Eastern Europe from Soviet-imposed communism the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the end of the Cold War followed American leadership reunified Europe under democratic capitalist systems ushering in economic prosperity and NATO-backed protection But this freedom evaded Russia because the Soviet system was never fully dismantled America has failed to see this and Putin has relentlessly exploited repeated resets in Chechnya in Georgia in Syria in Crimea and the rest of Ukraine Putin is no peacemaker Yet when countered with decisiveness Putin has retreated In Turkey shot down a Russian jet violating its airspace In February when Russian Wagner fighters attacked U S special forces in Syria Trump launched airstrikes that devastated Wagner In April the U S U K and France launched missiles against chemical weapons sites in Syria In each instance Russia threatened escalation but backed down Just two weeks ago when Trump entertained the idea of sending Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles with the feasible to strike deep and decisively inside Russia Putin got on the phone to seek negotiations Yet after Trump stalled on the Tomahawks in his meeting with President Zelensky Putin cagily shifted again A stony-faced Lavrov delivered the message that Russia had not changed its position since August In a show of strength Trump subsequently cancelled the proposed summit in Budapest Now he necessities a comprehensive strategy that demonstrates that strength and reverses the mistakes of the past A strong Russia procedures means bolstering NATO the organization that has kept the West strong and free for decades Five years ago Republicans were right to criticize NATO s European members they spent too little on defense But now all NATO members are projected to meet NATO s targeted of GDP Poland spent almost followed by the Baltics and Norway No longer a laggard Germany last year became the fourth-largest military spender in the world Strengthening NATO also demands a united front The U S must lead NATO in coordinating a response to Russian violations of NATO airspace cyberattacks on critical infrastructure social media and electoral manipulation and other forms of escalatory hybrid warfare Like Reagan Trump should invest in defense production at home to rebuild America s and allies weapons stockpiles He should facilitate joint venture defense partnerships with Europe and streamline the overly bureaucratic and political process of selling arms to our allies on Russia s front lines A strong Russia procedures must defund Russia s war machine through sanctions that work Trump should pressure China and Turkey as well as India to stop buying Russian oil and gas He should leverage his relationship with Viktor Orb n in Hungary to reduce Russia s capacity exports while promoting Qatar and Azerbaijan as alternative suppliers Countries and companies still funneling dual-use technologies to Russia s military must also be stopped The Biden administration identified the routes through Central Asia and elsewhere but neither Biden nor Trump has blocked them Trump s decision to provide targeting intelligence that enhances Ukraine s ability to strike inside Russia is a crucial step Beyond this Trump must facilitate Europe s transfer of billion in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to finance its mastery And he should sell Ukraine long-range weapons such as Tomahawks without restrictions on their use against legitimate military targets and oil refineries Related Articles Skywatch Celestial monsters and a ghost Your Money Financial stress can lead to avoidance survey says Working Strategies Job search best practices require discipline Joe Soucheray Trump lacks grace and permission in his destruction of East Wing Letters A papal exhibit What about the sisters For years the U S has cautiously avoided Russia s defeat Yet a Russia routed by Ukraine as the USSR was by Afghanistan might be our best hope for change for a Russia that at last abandons its imperial dreams President Trump has the opportunity to bring peace through strength He can end the bloodshed in Ukraine certainly stop years of Russian aggression under Putin and solidify the liberty and assurance of the West If he does so Trump will have earned his Nobel Prize Kathleen Collins is Arleen C Carlson Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota She is the award-winning author of two books on Eurasia As a Fulbright Global Scholar she is writing a third book on militaries in postcommunist Eurasia Ambassador Batu Kutelia is a former ambassador of Georgia to the United States and a former head of Georgia s Foreign Intelligence Function He is senior fellow at Delphi Global Research and a member of the board at the Atlantic Council of Georgia