In a stark warning to the international community, Serge Labbé calls for renewed focus on Ukraine, which he describes as a victim of the West's persistent weakness and indecision. Labbé argues that it is time to provide Ukraine with the full spectrum of support to change the narrative of an unwinnable war.
The Failure of Leadership
Having failed to resolve the Ukrainian-Russian stand-off in the first 24 hours of his second presidency as promised, Donald Trump has not only thrown the world economic system into tariff turmoil but also plunged the planet into a Middle East quagmire. Labbé contends that Trump's strategic miscalculations have precipitated damage to Gulf infrastructure that will take years to remedy, with little impact on a regime strictly controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Furthermore, in attempting to maintain at least some flow of oil, Trump is actually financing Russia's atrocities in Ukraine by temporarily lifting sanctions on Russian oil, generating some $150 million USD per day for the Kremlin.
A History of Indecision
Five years into the Russian war on Ukraine, the West has largely allowed the beleaguered nation to continue to go it alone. Vladimir Putin has been preying on the West's weakness, indecision, and desire to compromise. Factored in has been European dependence on Russian oil and natural gas, and the Trump-Putin bromance. Labbé asserts that the West has consistently failed to confront Putin from a position of strength.
Drawing on his engagements with senior Russian diplomatic and military officials in both Kosovo and Afghanistan, Labbé emphasizes that the only way to exact results is to threaten the use of strong, immediate, and credible punitive measures from the outset, thereby ensuring unconditional compliance—not rolling out the red carpet in Alaska.
The Consequences of Procrastination
Putin, his political cronies, the billionaire oligarchs, and certain members of the Russian military and security high command are disdainful of indecision, procrastination, and weakness, both in speech and action. Yet, it is precisely what Western allies have repeatedly practiced: indecision, procrastination, and weakness—pontificating about what they cannot do rather than what must be done now to save a nation with which the North Atlantic Alliance has a long history.
Why Has the West Done So Little?
Labbé questions why the West and NATO have done so little to curb, contain, and remove the threat to world peace and security posed by this autocrat. In 2014, Putin managed to annex Crimea and establish the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. The result: he watched the West's and NATO's action in the face of adversity—indecision. The subsequent track record in Afghanistan and Syria proved him right. In the weeks immediately following the Feb. 24, 2022 Russian invasion, the West finally managed to strap together at the last minute a comprehensive regime of sanctions and asset freezes against the Russian Federation, as well as key leaders, oligarchs, the energy sector, banks, and businesses. The process has been reactive and ad hoc. Labbé concludes that we were making it up as we went along.
