In his column for Sputnik International, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter makes the obvious and important point that the Ukraine Victory Resolution put forward in Congress earlier this week will lead to nuclear war, or at best, the end of Ukraine as a state.
The resolution was co-sponsored on April 25 by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) in the House of Representatives, and by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in the Senate. These members of Congress are a part of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which Ritter describes as a “bureaucratic relic of the Cold War.” Founded in 1975 as The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the U.S. Helsinki Commission monitors and deals with compliance issues for the Helsinki Final Act and other Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) commitments.
In a statement issued for their Ukraine Victory Resolution, these members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission affirm “that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the Russian invasion, holds that the peace brought by victory must be secured by integrating Ukraine into NATO, and declares that the United States must work with its allies and partners to secure reparations, reconstruction, justice for Russian war crimes, and accountability for Russian leaders.” The text of the draft resolution “affirms that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.” Ritter notes the shameless fact that the Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova was the person chosen to make the official announcement regarding the presentation of the “Ukraine Victory Resolution” to the House of Representatives.
In his column, Ritter makes the point that Ukraine is losing the war, and that dragging it out would only confirm the point that former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has noted—if the crisis does not reach a negotiated end, Ukraine itself may cease to exist as a sovereign entity. Ritter then notes that the “irony of a piece of U.S. legislation purporting to defend Ukrainian sovereignty serving as the foundation of the death of Ukraine as a nation seems to have escaped the sponsors of the resolution.”
However, Ritter then makes the stark point that continuing the escalation in Ukraine can lead to nuclear war, and that the Russians are not bluffing when they say that nuclear weapons can be used when Russia’s existence as a state is threatened. He then cites the April 25 statement by Dmitry Medvedev who said in reference to his responsibility as President of Russia in using nuclear weapons, “ you must be prepared that your hand will not tremble in a certain situation to use it, no matter how monstrous and cruel it sounds.”
For those who would counter Ritter’s arguments as alarmist, it should be remembered that U.S. Helsinki Commission member Roger Wicker (R-MS) said on Dec. 7, 2021, that for the United States, “Military action could mean that we stand off with our ships in the Black Sea and that we rain destruction on Russian military capabilities.... We don’t rule out first-use nuclear action. We don’t think it’ll happen. But there are certain things in negotiations if you’re going to be tough that you don’t take off the table.”
Ritter ends his column:
“A vote for the resolution is a vote for nuclear war with Russia. The resolution is a literal suicide pact with Ukraine. Hopefully the American people will wake up to this reality before it is too late, and let their representatives know that they chose life over death.
“Ukraine has lost its NATO-driven conflict with Russia. There is no need for the entire world to die as a result.” (https://sputnikglobe.com/20230428/scott-ritter-ukraine-victory-resolution-act—a-delusional-suicide-pact-1109895144.html)
