Last week the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for organizing the scheme by which Ukrainian children have been taken from their families and deported to Russia. The move has been described as “unsurprising” and “encouraging.” But there is another word that can describe the ICC’s decision: unhelpful.
President Xi Jinping was in Moscow this week, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit comes just weeks after Beijing released a 12-point position paper on a political settlement to what it calls the “Ukraine Crisis.” But expectations that China is going to help broker a breakthrough in the near term are low.
The Russia-Ukraine war has provided the U.S. military with valuable lessons, and the Ukrainian army’s successes validate much of the U.S. military’s doctrine and operational art. Yet there is also cause for concern: The U.S. might be well-prepared for the kind of war Russia has fought in Ukraine, but it is poorly provisioned for it.
