Democratic progressives make mistake in urging peace talks with Putin

A week after the controversy over comments by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about a Republican House majority reducing aid to Ukraine, another war of words over Ukraine has broken out — this time among Democrats. On Monday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a letter to President Biden praising his leadership but also urging him to “explore all possible avenues” to seek negotiations and a “rapid end to the conflict.”

The letter, whose signatories include New York representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nydia Velázquez, and Jamaal Bowman, stressed that the settlement must be acceptable to “our Ukrainian partners.” Yet it also suggested that the president wasn’t doing enough to pursue diplomacy with Russia despite vast expenditures of taxpayer money for military assistance. To some, this stance looked like making common cause with Republicans skeptical of aid to Ukraine. Amid the outcry, caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) withdrew the letter on Tuesday.

This is an embarrassing unforced error by progressive Democrats on several levels.

For one thing, it comes at a moment when Vladimir Putin is desperate for talks because his army, despite a boost from mobilization, is stumbling badly and may be about to lose the southern city of Kherson. Many military analysts predict that a Russian retreat from Kherson will mean a decisive rout of the invasion force. Yet the Kremlin has also signaled that it will not negotiate the status of four Ukrainian provinces it has illegally annexed, let alone the status of the Crimea. The likely goal of the negotiations for Putin is a cease fire that will allow his forces to rest, regroup, and consolidate their hold over those occupied areas of Ukraine.

There is little doubt that Russia’s recent scaremongering about nuclear escalation — which includes both hints that Russia may use a tactical nuclear weapon and absurd accusations that Ukraine may be planning to use a “dirty bomb” — is intended primarily to force the West, and especially the United States, to not only resume negotiations about a settlement but to lean on the Ukrainian government to engage in talks.

The letter from the Progressive Caucus seems to signal that Putin’s blackmail is working.

Ironically, the timing of this signal seems to be inadvertent. The letter apparently was drafted several months ago; several of the signatories have said that they signed the letter in July and would not have done so under current circumstances.

Jayapal has claimed that it was "released by staff without vetting.” This could be spin to cover a fiasco — if the letter was released by mistake, why not retract right away? But if true, it suggests a shocking lack of discipline. How does an open letter to the president from congressional members of his own party get released to the public without the Congress members’ knowledge?

Thus, two weeks from the midterms, the Progressive Caucus has given the impression of cracks in Democratic Party unity on Ukraine, faux bipartisanship with Republican critics of our current Ukraine policy, disorganization, and accommodation of Putin’s threats. In a way, the letter’s retraction compounded the damage, giving ammunition to those who charge that American politicians who dissent from a hawkish party line on Ukraine are quickly silenced by the establishment.

In terms of domestic politics, the letter is a serious and probably costly blunder by the Democratic Party’s left wing. In terms of foreign policy, it misses an obvious fact. No one is against negotiations or peace. But negotiations that reward Russian aggression and illegal land grabs are bad not only for Ukraine but for long-term peace in the region.

Opinions expressed by Cathy Young, a cultural studies fellow at the Cato Institute, are her own.

By Cathy Young

Cathy Young is a writer for The Bulwark.