February 23: Two years of war in Ukraine

In which, we mark two years of war in Ukraine, pressure builds for a ceasefire in Gaza, and President Biden is pulling out the stops to build voter enthusiasm.

Two years of war in Ukraine

This weekend marks two years since Vladimir Putin launched his latest war in Ukraine. 

The war has reshaped global politics, global food supply chains, European politics, and is increasingly becoming a wedge issue in the US.

All those are ripple effects of a still ongoing war. Ukrainian forces pulled out of Avdiivka this week, and Russia appears set to keep pushing in efforts to regain territory lost in the latest Ukrainian offensive. The war has largely settled into a pattern of attritional offensives and counter offensives. While it appears as though Russia has the upper hand for the moment, the sanctions continue to do their slow, grinding work on the Russian economy, and Ukraine’s allies appear committed to continuing to supply arms (despite comments by US Senator JD Vance at this week’s Munich Security Conference).

However, the war is burning through US and European weapons stocks far faster than they can be replenished, a fact driven home this week by NATO member Denmark announcing that it was transferring all of its artillery to Ukraine. As noble a gesture as that appears, bear in mind that this is a country having to give up a strategic asset because European defense industries are so weak. If that’s what we’re coming to, we may be closer to peace negotiations than many realize.