'..[Biden] went on record saying:
"If we walk away, and Russia is able to sustain their onslaught and bring down Ukraine, what do you think’s going to happen in the Balkan countries?”…“It changes the dynamic."Of course it would have been infinitely better had they understood this possibility a year ago when they refused to arm Ukraine properly. The administration bears a significant responsibility for allowing the war to evolve in the dangerous way that it has. However, they are also infinitely to be preferred to the policies of Trump/Putin. We will know soon which way the US will go.
..
..this war shows is how very limited is the understanding of war in the west [is] (which might explain why the US has lost so many wars while at the height of its power). Ukrainians themselves have been working on active defense concepts for a while, they’ve clearly already put a version of the strategy into operation, and the last thing they are doing is being guided by western strategic brilliance on this..
So, there remains a very distressing tendency in major western capitals to try and take credit for Ukraine’s successes and to blame Ukraine for all that goes wrong. Its unseemly and would be better for everyone if it stopped. Its also wrong. Its the western Defense Departments and MOD’s that have consistently failed to understand this and other wars over the last few decades. Remember, these are the groups that said Kyiv would fall in a few days.
So, stop claiming influence over Ukraine that you dont have.'
- Prof. Phillips P. O’Brien,
Weekend Update #64: Crunch Time in Washington, January 20, 2024
ContextTo defeat Putin in a long war, Ukraine must switch to active defense in 2024, January 4, 2024
'..the continuing failure to give Ukraine what it needs when it needs..'France's Macron to travel to Ukraine in Feb to finalise bilateral security deal(Europe Stepping Up) - '..European militaries .. defend Europe against Russia .. drop all niceties..'