Should the U.S. provide military assistance to defend Ukraine from Russia?

Answer 1

This is a question asking for a political opinion. As a result, there will be no perfect answer and any answer you read (including mine) should be taken with a grain of salt.

YES. The defense of Ukraine's territorial integrity is critical to restoring US allies' faith in strength of alliances with the US government. These alliances are what keep large portions of the world safe.

One of the hallmarks of the Obama presidency has been to ignore the needs of US allies in an attempt to have a rapprochement with US enemies. This has both weakened the strength and resilience of US alliances around the globe and emboldened the enemies of the United States. In every case where this has been implemented, such as negotiations with Iran that weakened the position of the Israelis, Jordanians, Saudis, and Emiratis or abandoning Syria to Russian support of the Assad Regime, this has caused the distrust of allies.

Ukraine is a country that wants to accede to NATO, Westernize, and escape the Russian sphere of influence. Defending Ukraine would show that the US intends to still maintain and strengthen its military commitments in NATO. A number of Eastern European countries look on uneasily as Russian forces effectively humiliate and weaken Ukraine, a country with many of the same intentions of becoming a stable Westernized country that motivated them to successfully join NATO. In particular, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are NATO members who were formerly part of the Soviet Union and border Russia. The possibility of Russia taking action against them is a scary prospect and the only serious deterrent is the guarantee that other NATO allies like the US will defend them. Failing to support Ukraine along with claims from Presidential Candidate Donald Trump that the alliance might not actually function to protect the Baltic States, makes the Baltic States worry about their future and whether trusting the US to defend their free and democratic governments is a wise decision.