Mocked in some quarters for what sometimes seemed token efforts to support Ukraine’s military in the face of the Russian threat, the West is starting to step up supplies of military equipment after the invasion.
With Ukrainian forces putting up real resistance in the face of the Russian advance, Western officials say there is a genuine interest in ensuring Russian President Vladimir Putin pays the maximum price for the invasion.
Germany in particular was criticized this month ahead of the invasion for only stumping up some 5,000 helmets to send to Ukraine, a gesture that the mayor of Kyiv, former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, said had left him “speechless.”
“What will they send us next? Pillows?” he asked the Bild daily.
France and other Western states had previously been wary of arms deliveries they feared could provoke Putin into action at a time when diplomacy was still alive.
Since Putin unleashed the attack on Ukraine on February 24 however, everything has changed.
Germany said Saturday its army would transfer 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger-class surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine, a U-turn from its longstanding policy of banning weapon exports to conflict zones.
1 comment:
The more weapons sent in to Ukraine the longer the war, the more people dead. Is that what the NATO countries want, a long drawn out war to reduce Russia's economic ability. Killing people for money, yes that sounds like the west.
Post a Comment