DW P

Producer and Film Director @ Ukraine Story | Documentary Filmmaker | Attorney | Journalist 

Feb 19, 2025

Today is the Most Consequential Day of the War

Today, the White House appeared to publicly and officially switch sides on the Russo-Ukraine war. Today, the United States appeared to surrender any pretense of neutrality. Worse, she surrendered the all important position of moral clarity on the invasion.

Highlights of this consequential day. The U.S. (1) Broke its promise to include Ukraine in negotiations by reaching an agreement with Russia at the expense of Ukraine, (2) Blamed the cause of the war on Ukraine, the victim of Russian aggression, and (3) Furthered the Russian narrative questioning the legitimacy of the elected leader of Ukraine operating under constitutional government, and (4) Blamed the destruction and murder of Ukrainians on Ukraine for not cutting a deal with Russia.

We must acknowledge that everything is in flux with the White House. The same twists and turns which brought us to today, could veer in another direction tomorrow. It is premature to abandon hope, or set aside efforts at focused persuasion and pressure on Washington. That being said, if the events, agreements and words of today stick, then February 18, 2025, may prove the most consequential day of the war. This is the day that American leadership officially took an adversarial public stance towards Ukraine.

The path forward for Zelensky has become extraordinarily difficult. If a Russo-American alliance now drives the “peace process,” Ukraine needs to make some very difficult decisions on whether to continue with the peace process. They are in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario. Under any reality, the duly elected president of Ukraine must oppose the narrative emerging from the White House.

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Comment from :

Alexandre Tissot Demidoff

Trump is consistent on his domestic and foreign policy. He will always cast blame on the victim in place of the perpetrator of any glaring injustice. In this way, he, the omniscent Orange Messiah, is forced to take action to set matters right. Despicable.

Christopher J. Wajnikonis

Putin’s internal survival depends on international brigandry. He is not affraid of NATO, he is only scared of his brainwashed serfs, who would have his hide the minute he slips. Even more so after he’d miscalculated badly in 2022.

Putin’s life ambition is restoring the ussr & its colonies. He’s already sold that to the ruZZians & they’ve bought it. He was getting away with murder (allegorically & in reality) in Ukraine, because we had a pushover ‘Government’ in the USA + quite a few in Europe.

If Putin gets Ukraine by conquest or by a (forced) ‘negotiation’ he will be strengthened militarily & internally. With his economy already on full wartime footing + the support of his new allies he will lick himself out of his current wounds in a few years. A slicing technique will come next-grabbing a slice small enough he would get away with, because NATO would let him, as we do in Ukraine. This is his plan. It isn’t as easy for him now as it was in 2014, but because of our western C0WARD1CΣ & STUP1D1T¥ it is so far working for him.

Putin doesn’t care loosing ~860,000 of his soldiers. All he cares about is to shoot 10,000 artillery shells per day vs. Ukraine’s 2,000.

Anna Lopusieva

Trump forgot one thing: Ukraine is not a toy. We stand in war for 11 years. We stopped Russia all alone in 2014 and February-May 2022. The second army in the world by the way. We are not small kids under their beds. So no one will choose our destiny without us, nor in Kremlin, nor in Washington.

Marijn Markus

Wild to see the American President regurgitating the Russian propaganda line from 2022 that “they haven’t even really started yet” and blame Ukraine, the victim (!) for “starting” the war.

Steven Moore

Take Trump seriously but not literally. He gets bad info about Ukraine. As do many of his voters. We need to get his voters good information.

Ralph “Scott” DiMaio

America is now at a crossroads. The President has abandoned 79 years of Foreign Policy and national security strategy in taking this action. Congress now has a choice. Republicans can pretend that they did not support Ukraine with military and economic aid since 2022 or they can join with the Democrats to pass veto-proof legislation to insure that Ukraine receives all repeat all the necessary support – military, political, economic, moral – in order to obtain all of its legitimate national security, political and economic objectives. They could also pass legislation stating that Congress would not recognize or support any treaty that has not been negotiated without the participation of Ukraine, NATO and the EU. It’s time to pick a side and the American people and the rest of the world will be watching.

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Another important post from DW P :

America’s Debt Obligation to Ukraine for Breach of Agreement

If the United States is going to make an “ex post facto” argument requiring Ukraine to assume a debt obligation to which they never agreed, it is only fair to hold America to an agreement which they DID agree to follow.

Here is a summary of a legal and ethical argument based on contract law in opposition to the White House strategy pushing Ukraine to compensate the U.S..

America’s agreement with Ukraine requiring Ukraine to disarm in exchange for assurances that her sovereign territory would be preserved against Russian aggression, created an ethical and legal obligation of America to Ukraine to protect her territorial sovereignty from Russian invasion on which Ukraine relied to her detriment. Memorandums of understanding and formal agreements can carry the weight of enforceable contracts, especially when one side performs its obligation in full and relies to its detriment on the other party to also perform.

America breached its agreement beginning in 2014 resulting in Ukraine suffering severe damages. America carries third party responsibility for the damages by reneging on its commitments and refusing to mitigate in a decisive manner, and where the collective harms were existential in nature, clearly foreseeable and ongoing.

Those damages can be calculated through estimation. Under any reasonable estimation, the debt obligation between the two nations tips in favor of Ukraine.

Read my article explaining and defending this position:
https://lnkd.in/gF6i-QeQ

DW Phillips, Esq.
Ukraine Story