WASHINGTON, December 4. /TASS/. The US administration should not provide Ukraine with security guarantees in order to avoid a hypothetical war between two nuclear powers, Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, wrote in an article for The American Conservative.
Commenting on Washington's leaked plan for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, the expert said: "The details of the particular promise don’t much matter. Ukraine is not worth war to America. It certainly is not worth war against a nuclear-armed power over what the latter views as existential interests." "That’s why no [US] president implemented the [former US leader George] W. Bush administration’s pledge to include Kiev in NATO. And if Ukraine isn’t worth going to war today, it won’t be worth going to war tomorrow," said Bandow, who previously served as a special advisor to the 40th US president, Ronald Reagan.
He emphasized that "the case for continuing America’s European defense dole expired with the Soviet Union’s collapse." "Moreover, the Europeans are never likely to be serious about security so long as they can count on America," the analyst added.
"Ukraine is a continuing tragedy. However, while advocating for peace the president must keep the US out of the conflict. That includes any renewed fighting in the future. It is Europe’s turn to take over its own security," he emphasized. According to Bandow, "for America, the details of a guarantee are the most important provision in any agreement," while Trump's predecessors, "whom the president regularly accuses of weakness, were willing to make such a needless concession to the feckless Europeans."
"However, alliances should be based on security, not charity. Although the conflict is a humanitarian tragedy, Ukraine’s future, and especially the details of any settlement, such as who controls the Donbass, are not vital US concerns," the expert emphasized.