Opinion | Repeating a Cold War mistake with Ukraine

I read in the Feb. 9 front-page article “Ukraine’s front-line units acutely short on infantry” that Ukraine’s most critical problem is the “personnel deficits” and that there’s concern about how to pay for much-needed additional troops. The article reported that foreign aid cannot be used for military salaries.

The top income tax rate for Ukraine’s large number of oligarchs is only 18 percent. Perhaps Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should consider increasing taxes on those in his society who have accumulated disproportionate wealth in comparison with their fellow citizens. Perhaps increasing the top income tax rate or initiating a wealth tax should be considered by Ukraine to help fund its war.

Fred Crouch, Washington

In February 1945, the United States ceded control over central Europe to Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union at the Yalta Conference. It is ironic that the world is focused on the same location of that conference, Crimea in Ukraine, on a showdown with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

World War II started over the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and the invasion of Poland. These countries were allied with the countries of Western Europe and fought with them. The decision at Yalta meant the Allies had abandoned the regions of central Europe. That decision resulted in the Cold War. It took nearly 47 years for freedom to return to those regions.

The bitterness felt by the people affected by that cruel decision remains to this day. We now appear to be repeating that mistake. The fight over supporting Ukraine in the House risks a second Yalta. Must we live another century with this ongoing turmoil?

Witold Rybka, Hershey, Pa.