to reflect on the last year and to help us understand what is next in this deadly conflict continue war or is there any sign of Peace Brianna Vannozzi spoke with Alain Sanders professor emeritus at St Peter's university and former senior reporter at Time Magazine well I guess we'll begin with the question I think is on most people's minds Professor Sanders which is are we any closer one year into there being a resolve an end to this war unfortunately I don't think so I think uh the war is going to grind on as it has there is really no end in sight nobody has put forth a reasonable proposal for how to end this uh and both sides seem as determined as ever uh to continue the slogging through of this horrible conflict President Biden just made a surprise pretty high stakes trip to Kiev announced another massive Aid package is U.S support making a difference well it certainly is I mean uh the war was expected to end very quickly with a Russian Victory uh almost a year ago now and um that has not happened clearly the armaments that the NATO allies including the United States that provided Ukraine have made a huge difference and so has the courage and uh strategies of the Ukrainian Armed Forces so clearly it has made a difference uh that's why we're talking about this uh one year into this conflict now I'm curious though NATO including the U.S have decided to send in um tanks to assist Ukraine is there concern or should there be concern about uh sending weapons like that escalating the war at this point well uh the NATO position the American position has been sort of a touch and go position that is to see to see how much uh and what kind of reaction uh the Russians will uh give to uh whatever uh support uh NATO and the U.S gives to our Ukraine and so far the Russians really haven't done very much except talk uh they haven't changed their strategy uh their strategy doesn't seem to have worked very well for them uh and for the most part it's just been talked now it's been threats and menacing talk uh but the NATO allies and the United States have become increasingly confident uh that that's most of what it is talk now you always have to be careful uh you have to take threats seriously but that's why the uh strategy of the NATO allies has been to creep slowly with more and more Aid to Ukraine as Ukraine has proved very competent in using that Aid smartly and effectively well it's interesting it is a lot of talk and then this week we had Russian President Vladimir Putin giving his sort of State of the Union Address to a crowd that uh you know was uh very upbeat and seemingly happy about what's been you know done so far and being portrayed by the the government there what should we make though of this latest news which was Putin's announcement that Russia will no longer participate in the nuclear treaty with the U.S well that treaty had been moribund for a year or two that is to say because of the pandemic inspections under that treaty had not happened and they haven't resumed since they stopped so that treaty has been basically moribund for the moment so it doesn't change the status quo at all but what it does do is it will make it increasingly difficult if not impossible to reach future arms agreement with the Russians as the war continues so we're at the status quo for the moment but it doesn't portend well for the future of negotiations to limit nuclear arms okay so then our nuclear or chemical attacks likely by Russia at this point one year into the war well that's very dangerous it's sort of the same dilemma that we faced here in the west how do you uh increase military involvement without provoking the other side clearly the Russians know that there is a NATO United NATO resolve against this Invasion uh by Russia and if it escalates to a point uh with arms that we haven't seen um in modern times really that could provoke a serious reaction from the United States from NATO and indeed from other nations around the world they're watching this and regardless of which side they're on they're terribly worried that this could escalate into something very very serious worldwide the ukrainians are betting that the increased military aid that will be coming in the coming year will make a difference on the battlefield and allow them to regain most if not all the territory the Russians are betting that the west and NATO will grow tired and lose its resolve to maintain uh the level of Aid that we're giving to Ukraine so both sides are making a heavy bet ukrainians on Military help and military fighting and the Russians on a war of attrition that they hope will diminish Western resolve to fight them and to repel the aggression so there is that's pretty much the way it looks which is why we're looking at uh gruel grueling months of attrition and continued fighting and death and uh horrible events in Ukraine yeah and here we are one year of having these discussions with you uh which we so appreciate Professor Alain Sanders St. Peter's university thanks so much my pleasure Brianna foreign [Music]