Ukraine has managed to survive Russia’s onslaught for nearly a year, but it’s facing a critical moment: Without more (and better) weapons delivered faster, the coming Russian offensive could do huge damage — and it won’t just be Ukraine that suffers.
“The speed of supply has been and will be one of the key factors in this war,” President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday. “We have to make time our weapon. We must speed up the events, speed up the supply” of “new necessary weaponry options.”
Washington and its allies would be fools to ignore that desperate call.
Yes, Germany, Britain and the United States recently agreed to send new tank shipments. But most won’t reach the battlefield for months. Ukraine’s heroes need them — and other weapons, including fighter jets and longer-range missiles — yesterday.
In the fall, Ukraine repelled Russian forces in the east, but Russia just seized the town of Soledar there and is pummeling encircled Bakhmut. Capturing it would boost Moscow’s control of the entire Donbas region, a chief goal of Vladimir Putin’s horrific campaign.
Shoring up Ukraine now not only helps it resist any new offensives and head off Russian breakthroughs, but also boosts Kyiv’s drive to oust the invader in the south.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Monday of “an urgent need for more ammunition, more weapons” for Ukraine, lest its forces be unable “to resist and repel the Russian invaders.” Moscow, he added, is prepping to mobilize 200,000-plus more troops.
From the start, the West’s interest in backing Ukraine has never been merely its moral duty to people hoping to stay out from under Putin’s brutal thumb; this is about protecting the international order and stopping the Kremlin’s drive to restore the Soviet empire.
The stakes are far too high to dawdle.
