Eastern Ukraine: Increase Pressure on Russia, Stop the Bloodshed

In eastern Ukraine, separatist insurgents have broken the ceasefire agreement with the Ukrainian government and are once again spreading chaos.

It is obvious that the Putin administration is backing the separatists. It is imperative for Europe, the U.S. and the international community to step up pressure on Russia with sanctions and put a stop to this armed intervention and the spread of bloodshed as soon as possible.

According to NATO, the Ukrainian government has identified an increase in the influx of armaments to the separatists, as well as 9,000 reinforcements in military personnel who appear to be Russian in origin.

In the port city of Mariupol, which has been overtaken by the insurgency, over 30 civilians have died as a result of shelling. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stated that based on a report from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “The rockets originated from territory controlled by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic,“ and that “the entity that fired these rockets knowingly targeted a civilian population.”

If it’s true that civilians were deliberately targeted, it is absolutely unforgivable.

Mariupol faces the Azov Sea, just north of the Black Sea, and is an essential strategic point that provides a land route between the forcibly annexed Crimean peninsula and the Russian mainland. Preventing Crimea — currently under the control of separatists — from becoming a “lone island” is one of the major objectives of this current conflict.

Mr. Putin exposes his true intentions by refusing to release territories taken by force in the face of U.N. demands to restore Crimea to Ukraine. By no means can this be allowed.

Since the outbreak of the conflict in the eastern region last spring, the number of casualties has passed 5,000. In order to prevent the number of victims from increasing, surely the separatists and the Putin administration that backs them must return to honoring the ceasefire.

The Russian economy has suffered due to sanctions that have led to a drop in the value of crude oil, a pillar of Russian trade. It’s a big mistake if Mr. Putin thinks that he can use military intervention as a way of diverting the attention of the Russian citizenry away from that predicament.

The European Union has held an extraordinary meeting for the European Council, and resolved to expand the targets of Russian government and separatist asset freezes for assets held in Europe. President Obama also stated his intention to maintain a firm stance toward Russia in his State of the Union address.

I’d like to see the U.S. pursue even more effective sanctions against Russia and look into beefing up aid to Ukraine as well.

As a senior member of the G-7 leading industrial nations, Japan ought to take a commensurate amount of responsibility in providing aid to Ukraine and putting pressure on Russia as well. Let’s not get so carried away with President Putin’s visit to Japan this year that we disturb international solidarity.