'..we are arming Ukraine...but not enough, and not fast enough. We seem to be "spooning out" capabilities instead of doing what's needed to help Ukraine win now. Russia is exhausted. They will crack if we get Ukraine enough long-range precision fires and rockets.'
- Ben Hodges (
Source, August 17, 2022)
'The Biden administration should move more quickly and strategically, in meeting Ukrainian requests for weapons systems. And when it decides to send more advanced weapons, like HIMARS artillery, it should send them in larger quantities that maximize their impact on the battlefield.''..A ceasefire would not end Russia’s aggression or its occupation of Ukrainian land; it would simply give Moscow a pause to consolidate its gains and then resume its offensive. Moreover, the vast majority of Ukrainians in recent surveys oppose any territorial concessions in exchange for a ceasefire with Moscow.
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The Biden administration should move more quickly and strategically, in meeting Ukrainian requests for weapons systems. And when it decides to send more advanced weapons, like HIMARS artillery, it should send them in larger quantities that maximize their impact on the battlefield.
Ukraine needs long-range fires to disrupt the Russian offensive, including Russian resupply, fuel, and ammunition stocks. That means the U.S. should send ATACMS munitions, fired by HIMARS with the 300km range necessary to strike Russian military targets anywhere in Ukraine, including occupied Crimea. And Ukraine needs constant resupply of ammunition and spare parts for artillery platforms supplied from various countries, some of which are not interchangeable. These systems are constantly in use, which makes maintenance and spare parts resupply critical. How and where these tasks are accomplished and the logistics infrastructure to quickly get the equipment back where it can be of greatest use can also make a huge difference.
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..the U.S. is also a nuclear power, and it is a strategic mistake to suggest that nuclear deterrence no longer works. Nuclear deterrence still works.
It is to Putin’s advantage to threaten nuclear war, but not to initiate it. And we have seen the Kremlin make nuclear threats that proved hollow — for instance in connection with Finland and Sweden joining NATO. If we allow Putin to intimidate us from providing the weapons Ukraine needs to stop Russian revisionism, what happens when he waves his nuclear wand over the Baltic states? And why would the administration assume that Putin would not dare do that with Estonia or Poland if the tactic worked for him in Ukraine?'
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US must arm Ukraine now, before it’s too late, August 17, 2022
Context(Complete withdrawal from Ukraine (Crimea and the Donbas)) - Ukraine war must end with liberation of Crimea – ZelenskyRussia is a state sponsor of terrorism — and should be treated that wayLawrence Freedman: ‘Autocracies tend to make catastrophic decisions. That’s the case with Putin’ Peter Beaumont(Complete withdrawal from Ukraine (Crimea and the Donbas)) - '..arm Ukraine faster.''The most important are not legal debates about Ukraine but practical deliveries.' - Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa