Biden’s administration has made it known that they are currently not willing to send troops to Ukraine and have even gone as far as pulling out military advisers and monitors that were previously serving in Ukraine. The administration’s hesitancy to fight comes from many factors: the lack of national security interest in Ukraine, citizens’ focus being centered more around inflation and rising prices than military involvement in Ukraine, a lack of treaty responsibilities and the risk of two superpowers going head-to-head. The American government’s decision is accompanied by the restraint of other NATO countries.
To start, Ukraine is not located on a U.S. border, there are no US military bases located in Ukraine, the country is not a major trade partner and it does not have strategic oil reserves. All of these factors mean that Ukraine is of little national interest to America.
A recent AP-NORC poll observed that 72% of those surveyed said the U.S. should play a small or non-existent role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been encouraging sanctions, but also against American troops being sent to Ukraine. Republican Ted Cruz, for example, has stated he does not want American troops sent to Ukraine to “start a shooting war with Putin.”
There are no treaty obligations that state the United States must provide troops to Ukraine. The U.S. must defend all member countries of NATO if they are attacked (due to the Article 5 commitment on collective defense), but Ukraine is a NATO partner, not a member. In fact, a large part of this conflict is Putin prioritizing restraints on Ukraine’s ability to join the alliance though Ukraine is trying to obtain a membership. For information on why Ukraine is unable to join the alliance at the moment, read this article.
Perhaps the largest reason the United States is not fighting in Ukraine is the gargantuan risk of two superpowers fighting on opposite sides; a direct clash between such powerful militaries and governments could be disastrous for not just both countries, but for the rest of the world. Biden has made it clear this is a major factor in his hesitancy to send troops.
The concern of the military confrontation of the superpowers is not just a concern of America; NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg has emphasized that no member of the alliance will send troops (as of now) to Ukraine because many world leaders feel that it will inevitably lead to this dangerous confrontation.
Instead of sending troops to Ukraine, many of the alliance’s troops are being sent to bolster the Eastern flank in a major defensive measure. These forces are placed to deter Russian forces from incursion into the territory of any alliance members and to reassure allies bordering Russia that other NATO members are devoted to the defense of these nations. The position of these troops is also a tactical advantage as, in the case of Russian aggression, the setup provides members with time to organize extra forces to follow up.
Although not providing troops inside Ukraine, members of the transatlantic alliance are still making efforts to punish Russia for what it has done to Ukraine, hoping to stifle the conflict. This is largely through the adoption of economic sanction packages and the delivery of military equipment, such as weapons and armor, to Ukrainian fighters. In a historic development on Saturday, Germany even reversed a major policy against sending weapons into conflict zones. In sending this equipment to Ukraine, the country marks the first delivery of military hardware to a conflict zone since World War II.
