In “The Ukraine War Is in a New Phase. Biden Must Rethink the U.S. Position”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Fellow Stephen Wertheim argued in an Oct. 5 column published in London’s the Guardian. The Republican revolt against funding for the war and the reality that Russia gained more territory in Ukraine in 2023 than Ukraine did, counteroffensive and all, “mark a phase of the war that calls for more thinking…. For Joe Biden, it is a time for choosing,” he wrote.
The strategy of “for as long as it takes” has reached its limit. “Ever more strident demands for ever more aid for Ukraine … makes the war look potentially endless and fruitless,” and thus like the logic on which Biden ordered U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.
Wertheim does not oppose the war, but he is warning that the U.S. role in this war is on unsustainable footing. Better, then, Wertheim argues, for the Biden administration to “pursue ending the war as vigorously as it arms Ukraine.” That includes recognizing that preserving Ukraine’s sovereignty does not include retaking Crimea or Ukraine necessarily regaining all territory lost since 2022, he notes.
