The United States is a large nation. We are large by geography, population, and economy. But our size does not determine if we are a lesser or greater nation. Our character does that. Much of the greatness that we have had through our history was because of our resolve.
Resolve means we accept our obligation to prevail in what we have committed to. Resolve means we make the necessary efforts to succeed. After the 2014 Russian military invasion of Ukraine, we helped train and arm Ukraine for its defense. Prior to the 2022 Russian military invasion of Ukraine, we provided intelligence information to Ukraine that helped them thwart Russia’s attempt to capture their capital of Kyiv and their entire nation. We have continued to provide military and financial support to Ukraine as they have continued to defend their sovereignty.
Russian President Putin cannot win. Russia has four times the population of Ukraine. But it has only one-third the population of the European Union. The European economy is about 10 times larger than Russia’s. The combined economy of Europe and the U.S. is about 24 times larger than Russia. With the long-term resolve of the West, Putin cannot win. The last three and one-half years of the Ukraine war have demonstrated that.
In the long-term, Russia cannot sustain the war’s drain on its economy and population. With European and U.S. resolve, Putin will not win. Ukraine will maintain its rights as a sovereign nation to determine its own future and European alliances. The European nations and the U.S. will prevail in the defense of Ukraine that we committed to. If Russia choses to continue efforts to dominate its smaller neighbor nations, then, with long-term resolve, the West will bury Russia economically, just as we did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
It is the duty of our political and military leaders to determine how we prevail in our commitment in Ukraine. But as ordinary citizens, it is our duty to stand by that commitment. We must not waiver or back down. We must honor our nation’s history with our own resolve. We are a great nation. I stand with Ukraine.
John Sturn
Ellinwood
