IT'S BEEN A WALKOVER FOR A CENTURY:

Earlier this year, as Russia's massive troop buildup on Ukraine's borders grew steadily more ominous, there were suggestions that the only way for Ukraine to avoid being conquered by Moscow was to submit to "Finlandization." That was a reference to Finland's policy of abject neutrality during the Cold War, when Helsinki was barred from joining NATO or otherwise aligning itself with the West, scrupulously avoided any criticism of the Soviet Union, and deferred to Moscow on most major policy questions. In return, Soviet troops stayed on their side of the 830-mile border with Finland, and Finns kept their democratic form of government.

Before Russia unleashed its war on Ukraine in February, a number of prominent figures, among them French President Emmanuel Macron and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, held out the prospect that a Finlandized Ukraine might satisfy Vladimir Putin and defuse the worsening crisis. "Wise Ukrainian leaders," wrote former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, "should pursue a posture comparable to that of Finland."

But a funny thing happened on the way to Ukraine becoming Finlandized. Finland became Ukrainized.

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