The German journalist says that the Western strategy in Ukraine is failing

Sputnik – The front line is too long, Ukraine’s military equipment is insufficient, sanctions against Russia are having no effect, the West is spending enormous financial resources on the conflict, public support is dwindling, and NATO is showing unity in words only. So now it appears that Ukraine is heading for peace – on Russian terms.

As the author of the article notes, not all is well in Ukraine, not only in public opinion or on the battlefield – a lot is connected with the prolonged and ineffective reaction of the West. According to Gabor Steingart, for the West, there are now eight unpleasant things about Ukraine.

First, the front line is too long for the relatively small Ukrainian army to make any headway on the ground – about 1,300 kilometers long. The German journalist writes: “Ukraine looks more and more like a collapsed state.”

Moreover, the regions around Lugansk, Donetsk and Melitopol, as well as the port city of Mariupol, were lost. Russia controls the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Steengart points out that retaking Crimea is not possible with the military equipment currently available.

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Secondly, independent experts – at least independent of the Ukrainian government – believe that Ukrainian military equipment is insufficient. The head of Rheinmetall says that Ukraine will need several times more tanks than before.

Former General Egon Ramez confirms this assessment: “For the sake of the operation [de contraofensiva] Ukraine is starting to move again, and more battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are needed for mobile combat with stationary weapons. In addition to long-range artillery and more advanced anti-aircraft defense equipment.

Third, the economic sanctions had no effect on Russia that might force Putin to surrender, as the German journalist continues in his article. This year and next, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Russia’s GDP to grow by 0.7% and 1.3%.

Important Western products, such as electronic components for military purposes, enter Russia through countries such as Iran or the United Arab Emirates. Moscow can sell its oil and gas not in the West, but in India and China. In general, you gain new customers.

Gabor Steingart formulated the fourth unpleasant moment for the West in the form of a question: did Russia become a “pariah from the international community” after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, as the West wanted? The majority of the international community considers that America is not innocent in this conflict either.

In addition, Putin has managed to outsmart a major player in relations with China. More recently, Xi Jinping called the Kremlin leader his “dear friend.” Encouraged by this, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Chai said that with regard to the former Soviet republics, including Crimea, “there is no international agreement defining the status of any of them as a sovereign state.”

As a sixth point, the author of the article notes the fact that today the West – all allies combined – has invested in the Ukrainian conflict, not even 55 billion US dollars (278.56 billion R$), as stated by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations. Ukrainian Andrei Melnik, but several times in the form of direct assistance, the cancellation of Western investments in Russia and the economic consequences of Western sanctions.

According to the Institute for the World Economy in Kiel, the United States and the European Union alone have pledged more than €130 billion in financial support to Ukraine. The price of success is rising, but success has not yet been achieved, the German journalist laments.

Another very tense factor for the West is that the pro-Ukrainian public has already cooled off from this conflict. In the American community, support for Ukraine fell in February to less than 50%, from 60% in May 2022. For example, 30% in Germany believe that sanctions against Russia are not worth the economic impact they are having on energy and food prices in Germany.

The most notable recent success, says Gabor Steingart, has been the NATO unit, which, however, exists only rhetorically. Indeed, not all allies equally supply weapons to Kiev.

Moreover, French President Emmanuel Macron recently made it clear that his view of America’s role differs significantly from NATO’s position. Regarding the role of China and Europe in the Taiwan dispute, the French president said that it would be ironic for Europe to consider itself “out of sheer panic” only as a partner of America.

So the West, in all its loneliness, is losing its way, concludes Steingart in his article for Focus magazine. Western arms supplies, compared to the strength of the Russian army, are very small, sanctions are extremely ineffective, and a peace plan is completely absent. Therefore, Ukraine’s allies need to change their strategy, the German journalist notes: otherwise Kiev will become a new Kabul for the West.

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