Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, several poorly informed U.S. analysts urged Kyiv to capitulate. They believed that the mighty Russian military would rapidly overrun Ukraine’s forces and implored NATO not to provoke Putin by supplying weapons to Kyiv. Four weeks into its war of national liberation, Ukraine is again advised by an assortment of observers to placate Moscow by surrendering Donbas and Crimea and disarming itself through neutrality.

Such analysts fail to understand that the post-Cold War era is over and there are no neutral states on the front line between a free Europe and an imperial Russia. A country committed to its independence and territorial integrity needs to be part of an effective security structure. Kyiv has made it abundantly clear that it seeks real security guarantees, whether inside or outside NATO, and not vague promises from the West. And Ukraine, of all countries, has proven through its resilience and fighting prowess that it will defend European security as well as its own.