Forget sanctions, arm Ukraine

Economic sanctions are not stopping Russia’s assault on Ukraine, and the West’s feeble response may well encourage Russian aggression elsewhere.

At the recent G-20 summit, Western leaders personally threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with further sanctions, if he did not cease his aggression and withdraw Russian forces from Ukraine. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Western leader closest to Putin, met with him for over six hours. Afterwards, she spoke with unprecedented pessimism, warning: this “isn’t just about Ukraine.”