500 sanctions vs. $60 billion in aid: Best way to ‘defeat Russia’ is by helping Ukraine ‘on ground’

Ukraine vowed to triumph over Russian “darkness” as it entered a new year of war weakened by a lack of Western aid and with Moscow emboldened by fresh gains.

To mark the second anniversary, a virtual summit of G7 leaders was due to take place at Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral later Saturday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attending.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, many expected victory within days, but Ukraine fought back, forcing Russian troops into humiliating retreats. Since then, however, Ukraine has suffered setbacks with the failure of its 2023 counteroffensive. The Russian army has in turn built up a position of strength thanks to booming war production, while Ukraine’s troops are short of manpower and running low on Western-supplied ammunition for artillery and air defences.

Saturday’s anniversary will see visits by Western leaders including EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who praised Ukraine’s “extraordinary resistance” as she arrived in the capital. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also arrived in Kyiv to take part in the G7 summit.

But the overall picture remains bleak for Ukraine due to the US Congress blocking a vital $60 billion aid package, on top of delays in promised European deliveries. US President Joe Biden renewed calls for Republican lawmakers to unblock the additional funding, warning that “history is waiting” and “failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will not be forgotten”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials voiced defiance on the anniversary as the West vows it will ‘will not waver’.

The conflict has thrown Russia into even greater isolation from the West, with the United States and its allies imposing a whole new slew of sanctions. Biden alone announced 500 more sanctions against Russia, vowing sustained pressure to stop Putin’s “war machine”, while also seeking to impose a cost for the death last week in a Siberian prison of Putin’s most vocal critic, Alexei Navalny.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Putin Saturday not to “count on any fatigue from Europeans” over the war, pledging that France’s support for Kyiv “will not waver”. Putin, however, has brushed off the fallout and on Friday hailed Russian troops as “true national heroes”. He has used the war years to rally patriotism and mount an even harsher crackdown on dissent, with few daring to voice opposition to the war.

The death of opposition leader Navalny removed Putin’s arch-foe, and he is set to extend his term in office in elections next month. On the streets of Moscow, most people told AFP they back the soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, two years on, FRANCE 24’s Kethevane Gorjestani is joined by Dr. Samuel Ramani, Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Tutor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford.