Ukraine: Daily Briefing – July 20, 2018, 5 PM Kyiv time

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 12:30 PM Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed and one Ukrainian soldier was wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 18 times in total.

Exercise Sea Breeze 2018, photo – US Navy

The US Department of Defense reported on July 19, “The 18th iteration of exercise Sea Breeze concluded July 17 following a closing ceremony in Odesa, Ukraine.Sea Breeze is a U.S. and Ukraine co-hosted multinational maritime exercise held in the Black Sea and is designed to enhance interoperability of participating nations and strengthen regional maritime security. […]

            For the first time during Sea Breeze, the staff embarked the command and control ship USS Mount Whitney during the at-sea portion of the exercise.

More than 150 staff members from various countries made up the Sea Breeze 2018 maritime operations center aboard Mount Whitney. […]

           Participants were familiar with some of the training the exercise offers, officials noted, and bringing the planning and execution aboard Mount Whitney added an additional layer of real-world training

          This year’s exercise presented new challenges and new areas to improve that will allow us to make next year’s exercise even more complex,’ said Coast Guard Lt. Ryan Newmeyer, Task Force 65 maritime planner. ‘As we increase the interoperability between our Black Sea partners and NATO  allies we need to continue to adapt to the changing environment, and embarking staff aboard the USS Mount Whitney is just one way of doing that.’

          Ships from the United States, Bulgaria, Turkey and Ukraine and participated in different scenarios while underway. Maritime interdiction operations, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control tactics, search and rescue and medical training are some areas the exercise focused on. […]

         ‘The purpose of the at-sea phase of the exercise was to work with NATO and non-NATO navies to conduct serialized events in a variety of warfare areas,’ Newmeyer said.

          Navy Cmdr. Craig Trent, executive officer of the guided missile destroyer USS Porter,  lauded the effort the nations exuded for this year’s Sea Breeze.

‘The success of this year’s exercise is a very positive step in building our partnerships and strengthening each other’s capabilities,’ Trent said. ‘Each year our exercise grows in complexity, and we intend to carry this trend forward.'”

In an article for the Atlantic Council, Roman Sohn and Ariana Gic stated, “Two events that took place in Brussels this month-the NATO summit and the EU-Ukraine summit-have once again brought attention to the Western position on Russia’s unlawful war on Ukraine. Although very supportive of Ukraine, the final declarations of both summits fail to use clear language recognizing Russia’s responsibility for its ongoing multi-vector war on Ukraine.

          Instead, the EU-Ukraine summit’s statement speaks of “external challenges” that Ukraine is facing, “acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since February 2014,” “illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol,” and “violence in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.” The language of NATO’s Brussels summit declaration is more direct, mentioning “Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea and ongoing destabilization of eastern Ukraine,” and Russia’s “political, financial, and military support to militant groups,” “military interventions in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” and “troops, equipment, and mercenaries [stationed on] the territory of Ukraine.”

         Both make two crucial mistakes. They treat Russia’s actions in Crimea and the Donbas as separate matters, not part of a coordinated, unitary war effort; and they do not unequivocally recognize Russia as the aggressor state that is directly responsible for waging an unlawful inter-state war against Ukraine, albeit an undeclared one.

        Despite overwhelming evidence that Russia is waging war against Ukraine-in which the military invasion is just one component among many-the language of NATO and EU documents lends credence to Moscow’s “plausible deniability” strategy, which denies Russia’s role as the aggressor. This has serious implications for Ukraine, and for the international order.

        When the West plays along with the Kremlin to describe Russia’s war on Ukraine, it is a win for Moscow and a loss for truth. A loss for truth is a loss for peace, stability, and order. As long as Russia’s undeclared war is not recognized as the unlawful war that it is-with Crimea and the Donbas forming part of a larger, single war effort-no peace solution can be crafted. […]

        Kremlin-sponsored unreality has permeated Western media and institutions, and polluted the thinking of many political actors. By echoing Russia’s lies, the international community has allowed Moscow to continue its war in the comfortable shadows of distorted reality without incurring the true cost of its war and destruction. Putin’s calculated strategy of disguising Moscow’s invasion has left Ukraine defending itself against an enemy largely “invisible” to the world. […]

       If the EU and NATO are serious about bringing peace to Ukraine and preventing the world order from being upended, they must they must get honest about Russia’s war against Ukraine and dispense with Moscow’s lies.