WP: The West is faced with a shortage of weapons stocks due to supplies to the Ukrainian army The Washington Post, citing a representative of a NATO member state, claims that the United States and European countries are facing difficulties due to the depletion of stocks of weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
At the same time, Russia "still has thousands of cars in warehouses," the WP interlocutor believes. The Ukrainian authorities have previously opposed negotiations with Russia, because, in their opinion, they will give Moscow a "respite" on the battlefield.
The United States and its European allies are trying to provide Ukraine with enough weapons and ammunition, but they face certain difficulties, an official from one of the NATO member countries told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity.
In his opinion, solving the problem of the shortage of weapons requires "long-term and strategic actions."
The representative of the NATO country said that "although Russia has lost a significant number of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, it still has thousands of vehicles in warehouses."
The Washington Post writes that Kiev and Moscow are preparing for the continuation of hostilities, despite calls for negotiations.
"We are at a stage where both sides are tired," Dara Massicot, a military analyst at Rand Corporation, expressed her opinion. "But they are not ready to stop fighting."
Negotiations are unlikely
According to the authors of The Washington Post, the situation in the conflict zone has led to the emergence of opinions that it is time for Ukraine to agree on a political settlement with Russia. This, in particular, was said by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Mark Milli. Such a decision "will almost certainly require Ukraine to surrender some territories," the newspaper draws attention.
At a press conference on November 16, Milli said that "the front lines from Kharkiv to Kherson are beginning to stabilize." He also said that Ukraine will not be able to "regain the remaining 20% of its lands" in the near future, "unless," according to him, "the Russian army completely collapses, which is unlikely."
At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin promised to continue helping Ukraine achieve its goals on the battlefield (their commander-in-chief of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny defined as "the return of the entire Ukrainian territory", including Crimea). Austin repeated the official position of the White House that Kiev itself should decide when the right time for negotiations will be.
The Ukrainian authorities have previously announced the rejection of peace talks, because, in their opinion, they will give Moscow a "respite" on the battlefield.
The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said earlier that "the Ukrainian side does not want any negotiations." He also stressed that "the military operation continues, and its goals must be achieved."
What weapons does Ukraine get
After the start of the military operation, Ukraine received Soviet-designed equipment from Western countries and modernized samples based on it, which were in service with Eastern European countries. Among them are infantry fighting vehicles BMP-1 and T-72 tanks, which were transferred to Ukraine by Poland and the Czech Republic. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the Czech Republic supplied Ukrainian servicemen with Mi-24 combat helicopters. In August, the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, said that North Macedonia had provided Kiev with planes and tanks.
Ukraine also receives towed and self-propelled artillery systems as military aid. Since February, she has been supplied with American towed M777 howitzers and self-propelled artillery units (ACS) M109, Zuzana-2 from Slovakia, German Panzerhaubitze 2000 and Caesar from France. The Ukrainian military also has Polish AHS Krab self-propelled howitzers and FH70 self-propelled howitzers. In addition, the United States supplied Ukraine with 38 HIMARS MLRS with guided missiles. Kiev also received air defense systems, including Gepard anti-aircraft guns, Stormer HVM and IRIS-T air defense systems.
Alice Andreeva
