Hawkish supporters of Ukraine say now is the time for the US,
Europe and NATO to increase the delivery of heavy artillery, tanks and war
planes to Kyiv despite nuclear weapons threats by Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
Putin is under pressure in Russia because of the battlefield
misfires and the chaotic rollout of his mobilization order for 300,000 troops.
The Ukrainian military’s stunning counteroffensive in the
northeast led Putin to move to mobilize more troops, which has
received a negative reaction in Russia.
William Taylor, a former US ambassador to Ukraine
and vice president of the Russia and Europe program at the US
Institute of Peace, said the news is helping the US effort.
“My bet is that the [global] reaction would be to double
down on support for the Ukrainians on the battlefield,” he said. “The Russians
have a big manpower problem and now’s the time for the Ukrainians, reinforced
by these weapons … to allow them to break through the Russian lines and push
the Russians out.”
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy
Kyslytsya, told CBS News on Monday that the international
community needs to speed up the supply of weapons.
He specifically called for the delivery of weapons to
protect Ukraine’s airspace, adding that Russia is “impotent when it comes to
the offensive on the ground” but that the missile threat needs to be
eliminated.
“I have never had any doubt that Ukraine will militarily
defeat Russia on Ukrainian territory,” he said.
The US and Britain have warned that what they call “sham” votes
in four Ukrainian territories are an effort to annex Ukrainian territory while
justifying the war to the Russian public.
The British Ministry of Defense tweeted on
Tuesday that Putin is likely to use an address to the Russian Parliament
on Friday “to formally announce the accession of the occupied regions of
Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”
“Russia’s leaders almost certainly hope that any accession
announcement will be seen as a vindication of the ‘special military operation’
and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict,” the ministry
tweeted.
There have been multiple reports of opposition to Putin’s
military mobilization order, with angry protests popping up in Russia’s
far-flung territories, a shooting at an enlistment center in a Siberian city
and reports of long queues of military-age men looking to flee the
country.
The U.K. on Monday announced sanctions against 92 Russian
officials and entities it says are involved in carrying out the referendums.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday
that the US is readying sanctions if Russia moves forward on annexation.
“We are prepared and we will impose additional severe and
swift costs on Russia for proceeding with the annexations,” he said
during a press conference on Tuesday.
“Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself throughout
its territory, including to take back the territory that has been illegally
seized, one way or another, by Russia,” he added. “The weapons that we and many
other countries are providing have been used very effectively to do just
that.”
Israel, which has maintained strategic ties with Moscow
despite its invasion of Ukraine, released a statement Tuesday rejecting
any results from the referendums.
Taylor said the international community needs to follow up
statements of anger with stronger military support.
“All these expressions of outrage, of rejection, sanctions —
that’s important to do, and it does send a message, but what’s really going to
send a message, what really needs to happen, is the Ukrainians need to be able
to push [the Russians] out of those places where they’re doing these
referendum, pushing them out of these four provinces,” he said.
The US has so far provided Ukraine with US$15
billion in security assistance, and lawmakers on Tuesday earmarked an
additional $12.3 billion for Ukraine, included in draft text funding the
government through December.
But Ukrainian officials are frustrated that European powers
with significant military reserves — Germany, France and Italy, specifically —
have not matched commitments by the US, Britain and even the Baltic states,
which are proportional to their size and military budgets.
An analysis by the Kiel Institute for World Economy put the
US as the number one donor for arms and equipment to Ukraine — citing about US$24
billion in commitments between January and August 03 — compared to pledges from
Germany that equal about US$1.2 billion.
France has committed less than $800 million in military
assistance, and Italy around US$200 million, according to the tracker
though it has counted US$2.4 billion in military commitments from European
Union institutions.
Frustrations appear to be roiling in Berlin, where
opposition lawmakers are demanding German Chancellor Olaf Scholz immediately
send German tanks and armored vehicles to Ukraine.
Politico Europe reported heated and inflammatory
debate within Germany’s Bundestag last week over the need to
increase, and quickly, military supplies to Ukraine.
“If, in the light of mass graves in Bucha and Izyum, we are
serious in saying: ‘Never again! Germany must ensure that something never
happens again’ — then we have to go a decisive step further here,” parliamentarian
Johann Wadephul, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, reportedly
said.
