JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kicking the can down the crumbling road in Ukraine” – Responsible Statecraft
“Without a strategy the new aid could be the worst thing to happen to the war beleaguered country right now. Here’s why.”
“… The [Ukraine aid] package [recently passed by Congress] includes enough military and economic support to sustain Kyiv’s hopes for a few more months, but nowhere near enough to defeat Russian forces. Of the roughly $61 billion … $14 billion is reserved for … weapons for Ukraine, and … an additional $8 billion … to help keep the Ukrainian government afloat. The bulk of the package, however, will go toward replenishing America’s own diminished military stockpiles — which will take years to accomplish — and funding its broader operations in the region. … The package will not bridge the enormous gap between Russia’s artillery, bomb, and missile production and that of Ukraine and its Western supporters, because the West simply lacks the manufacturing capacity to meet Ukraine’s massive needs, and this will be the case for many years to come. Congressional funding … cannot create machinists and other skilled workers necessary to man new factories … [or] address the enormous manpower disparity between Ukraine, whose birth rate has plunged to one the lowest in the world, and Russia, which has almost five times the population and one of the highest birth rates in Europe. Moreover … the controversies in Congress over this package, coupled with trends in opinion polls … strongly suggest … such largesse is not politically viable for much longer. Additional aid would be justified — indeed, it would arguably be required — if it were to be used as leverage in a broader diplomatic strategy for negotiating a compromise settlement of the war that would secure Ukraine and allow its reconstruction while addressing Russian security concerns. But it is tied to no such strategy. … [T]he new aid package includes language requiring the Biden administration to articulate a strategy within 45 days ….”
Click here for: “Kicking the can down the crumbling road in Ukraine” – Responsible Statecraft: George Beebe