InUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, awards a soldier in a trench as he visits the war-hit Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine edges closer to the capital city of Kyiv, Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of top Ukrainian officials is on the verge of being overrun and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made to take a bow off the politics of Ukraine. The cards are stacked against President Zelenskyy in a conflict where he appears to stand alone militarily, in the face of a multi-pronged Russian offensive by land, air and sea.
“They want to destroy Ukraine politically by taking down the head of state”. President Zelenskyy said in a video address to the nation recently. It is unsurprising that Volodymyr Zelenskyy the Ukrainian state leader lacks the political will and foresight in playing his cards well.
In the build-up to this sensitive power-play between US-led NATO and Putin-led Russia, President Zelenskyy fell short of ideas in taking decisive actions to remain neutral or tilt either to the West or East.
In the international system, state actors are all out to pursue their national objectives at any cost. A fact Zelenskyy never came to terms with.
A comedian turned president, Zelenskyy came on board after winning the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election by a landslide. In the build-up to his presidency, he openly admitted to having no strong political views.
The Zelenskyy-led Ukrainian government has the largest military threat now blasting at its face. He appears to be running alone in the race to defend the sovereignty of his country. Ukraine not receiving direct military support from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) against Russian military advance might get a lot of people wondering.
Well Article 5, the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) states that: “an attack on one is an attack on all”.
As it stands Ukraine is an aspiring member of the military unit, its quest for permanent membership is fiercely contested between NATO and the European Union (EU) on one hand and Russian Federation on the other and constituted an underlying factor to bringing the world to this stage. Ukraine is of geostrategic importance to both its Western allies and the Russian Federation.
The first time Article 5 was invoked came at the turn of the 21st century in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the United States, the most highly equipped member of the organisation.
Ukraine’s non-membership of NATO limits the advancement of Western troops into its territorial space.
The same cannot be said in the case of Russian troops advancing into Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or any other NATO ally in Eastern Europe. The narrative will change course most likely turning catastrophic.
To forestall a possible encroachment of NATO space by Russian forces, troops from within the military unit in the build-up to the invasion and up until now have been stationed to strike when Putin violates Article 5, the very pillar of its existence. NATO allies are fully equipped to engage militarily should Russia crosses into its Eastern European military orbit.
Militarily the resistance to Russian troops is turning out to be a one-man affair with president Zelenskyy left to champion the defence of the Ukrainian territory all by himself. The assistance his country has received so far has come in verbal, financial and diplomatic forms. He expressed his dismay in a recent broadcast to the nation:
“We have been left alone to defend our state”.. “who is ready to fight alongside us”? I don’t see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid”.
Rounds of sanctions are at best applicable to the situation on the ground and not direct military action on Russia by the West judging from a Ukrainian lens.
The west is concerned with its allies not Ukraine in a strategic sense. Sadly, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is holding the short end of the stick.
The comedian turned president should possibly reconsider his ambitions of finalising Ukraine’s membership of NATO, remaining neutral will dictate the fate of millions. Diplomacy is best engaged as millions of Ukrainians watches the pace of events in trepidation.