Topic:
Country: United States of America
Delegate Name: Andre Stoll
Security Council
Situation in Ukraine
United States
Andre Stoll
Forest Hills Eastern
On February 24th, 2022, Russian military forces crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border and began a multi-front offensive in what can only be called an invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine. This act was a major escalation of the ongoing conflict in the region, which began on February 20th, 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, a territory belonging to Ukraine. As a consequence of these actions, the world has experienced a significant food shortage, gas shortages, and a major humanitarian crisis. This has impacted the global economy and billions of people worldwide. In response to the actions of Russia, the U.N. passed resolutions recognizing that Russia’s actions were an “attempted illegal annexation”, refusing to recognize Russia’s claimed territory in Ukraine as part of Russia, calling on Russia to end the military offense and return Ukraine’s territory, as well as pay Ukraine war reparations. In addition to this, the U.N. has funded over two billion dollars worth of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people. Countries from around the globe came together to provide assistance to Ukraine and place sanctions on the government of Russia. However, there has been a serious issue to consider when attempting to resolve this situation: Russia has weapons of mass destruction, and has threatened to use them. No countries wish to risk a potential World War Three, and as such, no military support besides military equipment has been provided to Ukraine.
The United State of America (U.S.) has repeatedly denounced the Russian Offensive as barbaric, illegal, and a scheme orchestrated by the Russian Dictator, Vladamir Putin. The U.S. views Putin as responsible for the current situation in Ukraine and is particularly against the idea of Putin staying in power and escalating the conflict. It has even suggested ideas of forcefully removing Putin from power. President Joseph R. Biden is quoted as saying “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” when talking about Putin. The U.S. economy has been seriously affected by the oil and food shortages caused by the Russian incursion, with gas prices increasing to a peak of $5.10 per gallon after Russia, a major oil exporter, invaded Ukraine, and as such was cut out of international trade. In addition to halting the import of Russian oil, the U.S. has levied serious economic sanctions against Russia. The U.S. has pulled U.S.-owned businesses from Russia, prevented Russian business transactions, and cracked down on Russian oligarchs, some of the only people with power in Russia, seizing overseas assets such as estates and yachts. The U.S. has continually supported the Ukrainian military in this conflict, providing them with vehicles and weapons, such as HIMAR rockets and surface-to-air missiles. However, the U.S. has avoided giving anything beyond equipment, not desiring to escalate the situation. The U.S. is dedicated to preserving democracy in Ukraine as well as protecting Ukrainian lives and prefers that this conflict ends with negotiations instead of continued warfare. Despite this, the U.S. has been hostile while negotiating with Russia, with the U.S.’s U.N. ambassador stating during a U.N. Security Council meeting involving Russia “How much more of this nonsense do we have to endure?”
It is the United States’ opinion that Russia has no legitimate claim to any territory in Ukraine, and that this situation should be resolved by Russia returning all territory (including Crimea) to Ukraine, paying Ukraine war reparations, and helping Ukraine recover from the massive humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s actions. The U.S. believes that Russia is entirely at fault for the current situation, and would be in favor of Putin standing down as leader of Russia. The U.S. presses nations not yet sanctioning Russia, or worse yet, supporting Russia, to reconsider their positions, and begin to sanction Russia and support Ukraine. The U.S. desires a quick and preferably peaceful outcome to this war, and for it to not stretch on indefinitely like previous modern military operations. The U.S. is open and willing to help other nations transition off of a dependency on Russian goods if that is what it takes to end this conflict.
