One year of Russia-Ukraine war: Has the world failed Ukraine?

Note: This podcast was done on 24th February 2023On this day last year, President Putin announced that Russia would launch a "special military operation" in UkraineWestern leaders sent military aid to Ukraine, levied a raft of sanctions against Russian financial institutionsWas that enough? With one year gone and thousands dead, has the world failed Ukraine?Russia-Ukraine war: A proxy war between Russia and the US?A divided world: the US narrative, the Russian narrative, the NATO narrativeWhere the world stands on Russia and Ukraine, one year onOn this day last year, President Putin announced that Russia would launch a "special military operation" in Ukraine. Within minutes, explosions could be heard in Kyiv. Ukraine experienced a full-scale invasion, with thousands of Russian troops crossing the country's borders. Western leaders pledged solidarity with Ukraine, and responded by levying a raft of sanctions against Russian financial institutions. Ukraine also received billions in military aid to help defend themselves against Russian forces. But was that enough? With one year gone and thousand dead, has the world failed Ukraine? To answer these questions we have with us Chidanand Rajghatta, the US-based foreign editor of The Times of India.Chidanand feels that Russia has a fundamentally revisionist stance. It believes that Ukraine fundamentally doesn't have the right to exist and that many large sections of Ukraine territory is Russian. Not just Russian speaking, but both historically and out of geographic continuity, those areas of Ukraine Russia believes belong to them and according to Chidanand, it's been hard for any other country and any other leadership and rest of the international community to convince Russia and President Putin otherwise.According to Chidanand, the world has been largely divided on the Ukraine issue, and highlighted how, with time, most countries have taken their eyes off it. He underlined how many narratives there are in this war: the American, the European, the Russian and how different parts of the world have allied with different narratives. Chidanand believes that because for the war to end decisively, one side would have to win. But the military aid being supplied to Ukraine by NATO and the US is only enough for Ukraine to defend itself, but not sufficient for a decisive victory. If Ukraine’s allies in the West wanted to, they could do that by opening the floodgates, by giving Ukraine all the tanks and fighter jets needed. According to Chidu, they're refraining because there is a fear that if they do that, then they'll be crossing a red line and you don't know how Russia would react.Audio production: Sahil Gupta 108039997