Two years ago, Vladimir Putin launched a war of aggression and a war of choice against Ukraine — and he expected it to be a cakewalk. It wasn’t. Rather than a quick shock-and-awe assault that would spark regime change in Kyiv, Ukraine instead fought Russia to a draw – driving its forces away from the capital and fighting them to a standstill in the Donbas.
A year ago, fresh off successful offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson, Ukraine’s military appeared in the eyes of many to be poised for victory, that is until a much-anticipated summer offensive came up short.
Which brings us to now, on the eve of the two-year mark of the war, with the front in the east deadlocked, Russia gearing up for its own offensive, and American defense assistance to Kyiv stalled in Congress.
So where does the war go now? And where do the politics of the war go in the West and in Ukraine?
On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks with Steven Pifer, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 1998-2000 and is currently embedded at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and Marta Dyczok, an Associate Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Western Ontario and CERES Fellow at the University of Toronto. Enjoy…
SHOW NOTES
The audio opening the podcast is from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech on February 22, 2024. The translation from Ukrainian is as follows:
“The more insane statements we hear from Moscow, the greater our force must be. It is only the power of our defense of life, our ability to achieve our own goals that can bring Russia back to a state of at least partial sobriety. Russian madness must lose this war.”
The audio opening the second half of the podcast comes from Zelensky’s speech on February 23, 2024. The translation is as follows:
“I thank everyone in the world who helps! I thank everyone who defends us, Ukraine, our people, our principles – absolutely fair principles. No one in the world has the right to destroy independent nations. No one. And we will not allow Russia to destroy Ukraine.”
Amb. Steven Pifer’s published work can be accessed here and here.
Marta Dyczok’s published work can be accessed here. Brian Whitmore’s article in The National Interest, “Russia’s Strategy of Capture,” which was referenced in the podcast, can be accessed here.