Are the Europeans REALLY READY to support a continuing Ukraine war?
The war in Ukraine has profoundly altered the security balance in Europe. And yet, faced with a conflict that is set to last, European countries have not yet adapted their strategy or their industrial apparatus to the scale of the challenge. Although negotiations have been launched in Washington, Russia seems more determined than ever to impose a long conflict. Europe gives the impression of not seriously anticipating this scenario.
The fact is ... that Ukraine's allies - including Europe - have, for a time at least, opted for support that has been characterized more verbally than militarily. Supplies of weapons and, in general, equipment, arrived very slowly at the start. Ukraine had to spend a great deal of energy convincing its allies to come to its aid, and to hold on to rearmament very late in relation to its real needs. We also know that, as Ukraine recently pointed out, the equipment supplied by allies was not particularly modern (generally dating from the 70s or 80s) or even ready for use. The reconditioning time required for each armored vehicle and artillery piece varies between three and six months, and was generally carried out in Ukraine.
The Spanish, for example, sent tanks that had to be repaired before they could be used. This is hardly surprising: Western armies are not in a state of war and equipment is therefore not renewed very regularly.
At present, the European Union supplies almost half of the weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine. The EU pays for American weaponry, not least because there is no other supplier of such massive weapons for a war of this type. And while the Ukrainian army is highly resilient and responsive, it has to compensate for its numerical inferiority with an abundance of resources.
Viatcheslav Avioutskii -- Atlantico.