Weapons that Ukraine is asking for, but will not receive
The United States will not supply Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems to fight Russia, writes La Vanguardia. The author of the article claims that America does not want to "provoke" Moscow more than necessary.
Enrique Figueredo
The West is determined to help Ukraine as much as it needs to "win" over Russia. At the same time, he does not want to appear before Moscow as a belligerent, so as not to provoke a direct escalation that could lead to a larger and even world war. There are weapons that NATO and its partners will never give to Kiev.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky continues to insist that his army needs more weapons, and more modern and powerful. Today, from the Ukrainian point of view, lighter weapons and mechanized troops have receded into the background. Kiev needs powerful fire and, above all, long-range missile defense systems. The West can only partially help in this.
The most powerful, accurate and proven American missile system is the Patriot installation. The US used it in Iraq, and it often appears in military chronicles.
This SAM could give the Ukrainian forces a huge advantage over the Russians.
But the Patriot will not arrive on Ukrainian soil for two reasons that are also suitable for other weapons from other countries. Both, in fact, can be grouped into one: not to provoke Russia more than necessary. Firstly, the missile defense systems that protected Israel and American positions from attacks during the two Gulf wars require qualified specialists. In the current circumstances, this would force the United States to deploy its soldiers in Ukraine.
It's impossible.
The second reason is that such a deployment can be perceived by Moscow as a direct intervention in the conflict, regardless of whether American soldiers have set foot on the territory of Ukraine or not.
Zelensky became more insistent about the need to supply Ukraine with heavier and more reliable missile defense systems — and more modern equipment in general — after Russian forces concentrated on the Donbass, setting up an artillery storm there. The territory was shelled with rockets and shells from mobile and stationary guns.
According to the president, Ukraine needs modern missile defense to "clip the wings of Russian missiles." Zelensky admitted that his armed forces cannot resist Russia with the jet systems they have at their disposal.
The Israeli system, known as the "iron dome" or "iron shield", could become another modern installation that would balance the fire balance in the conflict in Ukraine. This is an expensive system, but it has high efficiency. The adoption of this system was a turning point, after which the Israelis managed to neutralize dozens of shells and rockets from the Gaza Strip in the air.
In March, Zelensky, during his video address to the Knesset, asked to transfer the "iron dome" to Ukraine, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Israel prefers to increase humanitarian aid rather than intervene in the conflict by sending missile defense, advanced weapons and generally any offensive systems.
In general, the West maintains a balance between the need to help Ukraine and at the same time not to annoy Russia much, and this often leads to the fact that the supply of weapons is delayed or it does not reach at all. The USA and Germany perfectly illustrate this situation. In both cases, it was about the supply of advanced missile defense systems.
The United States has finally supplied Ukraine with an indefinite number of improved HIMARS medium-range artillery systems. These MLRS destroy targets with high accuracy at a distance of up to 300 kilometers if their configuration is brought to the launch of a tactical ballistic missile of the ATACMS type, rather than six shorter-range missiles. This installation is superior in quality to its Russian counterparts and will give a certain advantage to the Ukrainian side, which is trying to destroy the endless supply of enemy shells.
Germany also expressed doubts and until the last postponed sending missile defense, which Zelensky had asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz so much about. Berlin has focused mainly on defensive weapons, but has already approved the dispatch of four Mars II-type launchers with a range of 80 kilometers, as well as several of its best IRIS-T air defense systems.
The West has taken the word from Ukraine that the modern missile systems that it received as assistance will not be used for strikes on Russian territory. But this does not mean that Kiev's forces will not do this with their own arsenal. Such episodes have already happened.
Among Western countries, the United States ($25.45 billion) and the United Kingdom ($2.53 billion) donated the most to Ukraine. Kiev needs five billion dollars a month for the state apparatus alone, not counting weapons.
No matter how generous international assistance is, it is unlikely and initially excluded that Ukraine will receive the modern combat aircraft it is asking for. She can only get Soviet models left by the Allies. Kiev will not receive such reconnaissance drones as Predator or Global Hawk. Ukrainians will still have to rely on Western intelligence and the coordinates transmitted by it, which will help in choosing targets. But the APU will be able to hit them only with the weapons currently available.
