John McCain: US and EU recognize failure of Minsk agreement

The West should provide Ukraine with defensive weapons.

According to US Republican senator John McCain, the United States and their European allies recognize the failure of the Minsk agreement and respond with more than empty rhetoric, the influential American politician wrote for The Washington Post, Ukrainian Service of RFE/RL reports.

“Ukraine’s leaders describe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy as a game of “Pac-Man” — taking bite after bite out of Ukraine in small enough portions that it does not trigger a large-scale international response. But at this point it should be clear to all that Putin does not want a diplomatic solution to the conflict. He wants to dominate Ukraine, along with Russia’s other neighbors,” the senator notes.

“No one in the West wants a return to the Cold War. But we must recognize that we are confronting a Russian ruler who seeks exactly that,” McCain adds.

He calls on the US to “adjust to the reality of a revanchist Russia”, which is “willing to use force not as a last resort, but as a primary tool to achieve its neo-imperial objectives”.

McCain again urged president Obama to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons.

“If Ukrainians are given the assistance they need and the military cost is raised for the Russian forces that have invaded their country, Putin will be forced to determine how long he can sustain a war he tells his people is not happening,” McCain noted.