The Foreign Service Journal, October 2022

24 OCTOBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL invasion. It would condemn millions of Ukrainians to live under Russian occupation. It would prohibit Ukraine frommounting a counteroffensive to push the Russians out of their country, as they did early in the war in the north. The Russians started their 2014 invasion of Ukraine in Crimea, then in Donbas. They continued this year. If a cease-fire would allow them to stay in the part of Ukraine they now occupy, they would not stop there. Putin has made clear his intent to dominate all of Ukraine. What should the United States do now? In preparation for the time President Zelenskyy decides to negotiate, the United States should provide Ukraine with mili- tary, financial, and political support to increase the Ukrainian leverage in the talks. Militarily, we should accelerate dramatically the flow of heavy weapons to Ukraine, including high-altitude anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons, long-range rocket artillery, and massive quantities of ammunition. We should provide fuel for tanks and CHADBLEVINS aircraft, body armor and first aid kits for soldiers, training, and intelligence. This will enable Ukraine to regain the momentum and push the Russians back toward their own country. Equally important will be financial support. The Russians are killing civilians. They are destroying apartments, roads, bridges, hospitals, factories, farms, and ports. The Ukrainian economy is being cut in half. Tax revenues are way down. We should provide budgetary support so the Ukrainian government can pay its sol- diers and government workers. Beyond this immediate support, we must contribute to a massive reconstruction effort. A major part of this short- and longer-term financing should come from the $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves that are held in the banks of the Group of Seven countries. Politically, there is a lot the United States can do. First, we should commit to Ukrainian security in the face of the long-term Russian threat of invasion. Ukrainians have learned that written assurances don’t work. In 1994 they gave up the world’s third- largest nuclear weapons arsenal for promises from Russia (and