It is noted that Ukraine’s military prospects will be the main topic in July, when the NATO summit will be held in Washington, dedicated to its 75th anniversary.
If the United States does not renew military support and Russia’s forces strengthen, the alliance meeting might turn into a “sober moment” that will raise concerns regarding Washington’s ability to keep its commitments, the paper said.
“In retrospect, some security analysts say Mr. Biden should have acted more quickly and delivered key weapons systems to Kyiv before Russian forces might adjust and before the patience of U.S. lawmakers began to wear thin.”
As an example, ATACMS short-range missiles, which might be provided to Ukraine by 2023, are indicated. October, well before “the Ukrainian counteroffensive began to weaken,” the WSJ points out.
A senior Biden administration official said the White House had to take into account the ability of Ukraine’s armed forces to develop new weapons, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s penchant for nuclear intimidation, when making weapons decisions.
“On the first day of the conflict, Ukraine was not ready to accept all this,” he said.
The publication also notes that “certain European weapons” played a crucial role.
“However, the continent, which is still struggling to overcome weaknesses in its defense industrial base, will not be able to meet the full shortfall without a quick resumption of supplies of US artillery shells, air defense interceptors and other critical weapons systems,” the WSJ said.
Western analysts are convinced that Russia will try to take advantage of this situation as much as possible.
Putin hopes that Ukraine’s allies “will not be able to gather their forces quickly enough”, and the Russians are already actively promoting the fact that Kiev is in a “defeat position”.
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2024-04-26 03:37:34