“The report of the Helsinki Commission states that Washington should rethink its attitude towards Russia”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The Helsinki Commission report, obtained by The Hill ahead of publication, argues that Washington should rethink its approach to Russia, as it has done with China over the past few years, and allocate resources accordingly.
The priority direction of the report’s strategy is to ensure Ukraine’s victory in its defensive war against Russia, call for “massive” military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv, and enable the Ukrainian armed forces to strike deep into Russia with Western weapons.
Trump has long argued that the US spends too much on European security and has campaigned for a deal between Ukraine and Russia through direct negotiations.
However, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee, Republican Joe Wilson (South Carolina), dismissed the possibility that Trump would make a deal with Putin.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump will see through the insincerity of war criminal Putin,” Wilson told The Hill in a brief discussion about the report. – “Putin is not the kind of person with whom you can reach an agreement that would be substantial and lasting.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, has largely outlined the continuation of President Biden’s policy toward Ukraine. Ukrainian hawks in both parties say the administration is too slow to supply Kyiv with the weapons it needs to repel Russian aggression.
While the presidential race will certainly influence US policy toward Ukraine and Russia in the years to come, attitudes in Congress will also be critical to global priorities.
Despite growing opposition within the Republican Party to providing military and economic support to Ukraine, foreign policy-focused Republican Party leaders are largely committed to supporting Ukraine, ensuring NATO commitments, and strengthening democracy in post-Soviet states.
The Hill suggests that those lawmakers are likely to support the report’s conclusions that “the United States should prepare for a long-term confrontation, recognizing that Russia has a centuries-long history of violent imperialism toward its neighbors, Europe, and the world more broadly.”
“I think the main idea is that we’re moving away from 30 years of misguided policy,” said a congressional aide familiar with the report.
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“We can’t let fear dominate the way we think about these things,” the congressman’s aide explained of the report’s recommendations, which call for a plan to respond to possible nuclear threats and attacks.
The report aims to change Washington’s attitude towards Russia as a superpower and almost equal to the US only because it possesses nuclear weapons.
Overall, the report speaks of a US that is fully committed to working with allies around the world, particularly those countries on the front lines of Russian aggression, manipulation and coercion – an argument that counters growing isolationist tendencies, particularly in the Republican Party.