On Thursday, February 24th, the whole world watched as Russia invaded the Ukraine. What led to this invasion, and what’s coming next?

When tensions were rising on the Russia-Ukraine border, Ukraine called on neighboring countries as well as countries of NATO, including the U.S., to aid their efforts of fending off a Russian military invasion. Many nations are concerned about what’s happening in this part of the world because Russia and China hold such a large amount of power and resources that they depend upon. Russia holds a vast amount of usable oil in and around Siberia. The Russian government has wanted to install an oil pipeline that leads all across Europe for some time now, and this would make Russia the single largest oil provider in the world. 

Though the U.S. tries to stay neutral towards battles that are not theirs to take part in, that’s where NATO comes in. NATO is an organization of multiple countries that was formed after the end of the Second World War. Their main job is to keep the peace between these countries. Ukraine is not a part of NATO but has been considering joining it for some time, which is the main reason why they are being invaded by Russian military forces. The city of Crimea is now full of Russian troops and pro-Russian Ukrainian citizens. If Ukraine is fully invaded, their government system would most likely switch to communism due to Russian influence, and that is one thing the U.S. and the rest of NATO does not want. 

Another reason why we must be involved is because of our size and influence as a military leader. If other smaller countries look to us for help and we don’t help them, that tends to leave some bad reputations. Ever since World War I the U.S. has been depended upon by multiple countries and to just stop helping would probably seem like an act of betrayal to other countries. Ukraine has a major disadvantage when it comes to firepower from themselves alone and without help from other countries their around 300,000 military personnel would be dominated by Russia’s whopping 1.54 million active personnel. 

Of course the best-case scenario would be to resolve this peacefully and create a treaty that both Russia and Ukraine would agree to, but seeing as Russia’s main goal is to ensure Ukraine does not join NATO, it will be hard to accomplish. At this point Russia is holding its invaded territory hostage as a means of negotiation. One source states, “Russia will insist that NATO publicly announces its refusal to accept Ukraine into its ranks. Kyiv, in turn, must proclaim its neutral, non-aligned status,”. 

If the U.S. declares war on Russia and deploys military to combat Russian troops, it will essentially be the cause of World War III. With Russia having Chinese allies as well as North Korea’s hatred of Joe Biden, it would most likely cause widespread panic and confusion as to why people’s lives are being put in danger over a matter that can be solved diplomatically. And let’s be honest, no one wants war, especially since the U.S. technically ended the war in Afghanistan by pulling out our troops. Going straight into another war is not beneficial in any way, shape, or form.