I was in Kiev last week for my fourth visit to Ukraine as Secretary of Defense. And being in Kyiv always drives home the enormity of the stakes in Ukraine’s struggle for freedom.

We must never forget how this war began. For years, Russian President Vladimir Putin had harassed and attacked the independent nation state of Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, he crossed the line into an all-out invasion, and the Kremlin began Europe’s biggest war since World War II.

When Europe’s largest army becomes an aggressor, the entire continent feels the shock. When a permanent member of the UN Security Council tries to deny self-government to more than 40 million people, the whole world feels the blow. And when a dictator puts his imperial fantasies ahead of the rights of a free people, the entire international system feels the outrage.

That is why nations of goodwill from every corner of the planet have risen to the defense of Ukraine. And that is why the United States and our allies and partners have proudly become the arsenal of Ukrainian democracy. America’s values ​​call us to stand with a peaceful democracy fighting for its life. And America’s security demands that we deal with Putin’s aggression.

UNBOWED UKRAINE

Ukraine matters to US security for four clear reasons. Putin’s war is a direct threat to European security, a clear challenge to our NATO allies, an attack on our shared values ​​and a frontal assault on the rules-based international order that keeps us all safe.

However, after nearly 1,000 days of war, Putin has achieved none of his strategic goals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not run away. Kiev did not fall. And Ukraine did not fold.

Instead, Russia has paid a staggering price for Putin’s imperial madness, with hundreds of thousands of Russian casualties since February 2022 and over $200 billion wasted. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Russia’s losses in just the first year of Putin’s war were more than Moscow’s losses in all of its conflicts since World War II – combined.

Ukraine has suffered terribly because of Putin. But as we saw again in Kiev last week, Ukraine remains unbowed – and even hardened. Ukraine’s struggle began with soldiers placing tank traps in the streets of Kiev and ordinary citizens throwing Molotov cocktails to defend their homes. It continues today with a battle-tested Ukrainian military and security force and a Ukrainian defense industrial base. Ukrainian factories now pump out some of the best drones in the world, and experienced Ukrainian air defenses protect their forces and families.

From April 2022, I am convening the Defense Contact Group of Ukraine – a coalition of some 50 countries from around the world committed to helping Ukraine fight Putin’s aggression. The contact group has met 24 times now, and its members have provided Ukraine with more than $51 billion in direct security assistance.

I am proud that the United States is doing its part, committing more than $58 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and delivering two Patriot batteries, other air defense systems, 24 HIMARS missile systems, thousands of armored vehicles and millions of artillery rounds . . This is a very real financial commitment. But for anyone who thinks American leadership is expensive, consider the price of American withdrawal. In the face of aggression, the price of principle is always dwarfed by the cost of capitulation.

America’s allies and partners share the burden of our common security. As a percentage of GDP, a dozen US allies and partners now provide more security assistance to Ukraine than the United States does. Germany alone has offered or pledged military assistance to Ukraine, amounting to nearly $31 billion. And through the Contact Group and its “capability coalitions,” friends of Ukraine are now creating an unprecedented, coordinated, 13-country push to increase industrial production, meet Ukraine’s battlefield requirements, and build Ukrainian strength to deter and repel Russian aggression in the future. Not since World War II has America systematically brought together so many countries to provide such a range of industrial and military assistance to a partner in need.

THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE OF THE JUSTICE CAUSE

There is no silver bullet. No single capacity will turn the tide. No system will end Putin’s onslaught. What matters is the combined effects of Ukraine’s military capabilities – and staying focused on what works.

The spirit of Ukraine inspired the world. He reminded us all to never take our freedom for granted. We fully understand the moral chasm between the aggressor and the defender. We will not be fooled by the frauds and lies of Kremlin apologists. And we will continue to defend the right of the Ukrainian people to live in safety and freedom.

Putin’s attack is a warning. It is a brief preview of a world built by tyrants and bandits—a chaotic, violent world carved into spheres of influence; a world where bullies trample over their smaller neighbors; and a world where bullies force free people to live in fear.

So we are facing a hinge in history. We can continue to stand firm against Putin’s aggression – or we can let Putin have his way and condemn our children and grandchildren to live in a much bloodier and more dangerous world. If Ukraine falls under Putin’s boot, all of Europe will fall under Putin’s shadow. Putin is not limited to the norms of the international system built at such terrible cost by the Allies after World War II. He pushes us all toward a world where might makes right and empire trumps sovereignty. So we must continue to confront head-on the specter of today’s aggressive Russia, backed by other autocrats from North Korea to Iran.

Peace is not self-executing. Order is not maintained. And the principles of freedom, sovereignty and human rights are not self-supporting. So, US President Joe Biden chose the path of mutual responsibility and common security.

Ukraine does not belong to Putin. Ukraine belongs to the Ukrainian people. And Moscow will never prevail in Ukraine.

Putin thought Ukraine would surrender. He was wrong. Putin thought our democracies would collapse. He was wrong. Putin thought the free world would fold. He was wrong. And Putin thinks he will win. He is wrong.

As a military man, I have learned to never underestimate the strategic advantage of a just cause. And I have learned that free men will always refuse to replace an open order of rules and rights with one dictated by force and fear.

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