Russia’s attack on Ukraine reveals how the fate of democracy lies in the hands of the United States and Britain. It is these two countries that have trained and supplied Ukrainian soldiers with money and weapons since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. In that knowledge, the Netherlands should strengthen relations with both and stay away from any nonsense about German-French EU soldiers, wrote Jelte Wiersma.

Do we remember when the majority of UK and Northern Ireland voters voted in favor of Brexit in 2016? Suddenly it was about ‘that Englishman’. As if it was something dirty that had to be kept away. And anyone who talks about the “American condition,” is negative. As if America is a ghost. But Britain and America have always proved vital to the survival of democracy, rule of law and freedom.

The United States, Great Britain and a number of other English-speaking countries are the only democracies that are serious about protecting Western values. This is also evident in Ukraine today. While Germany and France chat about EU soldiers and bake sweets with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, it is the United States and Britain that are allowing Ukraine to defend itself.

The Ukrainians are passionate about coaching America and Great Britain

Since Putin’s annexation of Crimea (2014) Russia, the United States and Britain have not only imposed the toughest sanctions, they have said: stop, so far and no further. The Ukrainian army, completely demoralized in 2014, was expropriated, tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were trained, officers were trained and the Ukrainian command structure was modernized so that the armed forces could be at NATO level by 2020.

Thus, the depressed Ukrainian people regained their spirits. In addition, new strategies were developed. Ukraine has experienced during the fighting since 2014 that it will never have enough manpower and firepower to resist a Russian invasion. Both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries share the same Soviet doctrine of direct confrontation, and then it’s simply a matter of numbers that wins: Russia. In short, the new strategy meant that the Ukrainian army went out in small groups and high-quality American and British weapons to take out Russian tank, plane and helicopter units.