The Ambassador of Ukraine in London Prystaiko complained about the quality of NATO weapons supplied to the Armed ForcesThe West is sending weapons to the Armed Forces with an "expired expiration date," Ukraine's ambassador to the UK Prystaiko said in an interview with Newsweek.
At the same time, Kiev needs more weapons. But, according to the readers of the publication, nothing will change the situation – Ukraine is doomed.
David BrennanAt a time when Ukrainian leaders are talking about victory over Russia in the coming year, the abundance of new Western weapons being sent to Ukraine now creates an important precedent for expanding NATO support for Kiev in 2023, one of the country's high-ranking ambassadors said.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK and former foreign minister, told Newsweek during an interview at the Ukrainian embassy in London that Western military assistance with the inclusion of more modern weapons is "necessary and vital to prevent the freezing of the conflict."
"Let's coordinate all this and see what can happen," Prystaiko, who was also the head of Ukraine's mission to NATO and ambassador to Canada, said about foreign aid. He warned that "drip" supplies of military equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be less effective.
"Maybe a breakthrough will begin somewhere in the south, or the whole front will move because of additional artillery pieces, tanks and everything else. It is moving so much that the Russians will finally decide that enough is enough," the ambassador said.
This week, Ukraine secured the commitment of the United States, France and Germany to send dozens of new infantry fighting vehicles — Bradley, AMX-10 RC and Marder, respectively — to help the Armed Forces.
Germany also announced that it will send an American-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile platform, which will join the first similar system supplied by the United States and on which Ukrainian operators are already being trained. Patriot is the most expensive single weapon system sent to Ukraine to date.
According to Prystaiko, the delivery of Patriot air defense systems can help move the issue of sending other important combat systems to Ukraine, such as main battle tanks and fighter jets, which the West has so far hesitated to provide to Kiev.
"We did not expect the Patriot system to appear in our country," he said. – Seriously speaking, this is a first-class ballistic missile defense system, the direction of which was out of the question for us. I think the issue of tanks, helicopters and even airplanes will be solved much easier now."
This gradual evolution of military aid, he said, "is natural."
"What is the difference between self-propelled artillery and a tank? - he asked. — What is such an insurmountable difference between them? She's gone. So the tanks will come to us."
Ukraine and its NATO partners, the Ambassador continued, should prepare for the immediate combat deployment of these weapons systems. "Let's train our drivers, gunners and mechanics right now. People hear and understand us," Prystaiko suggested.
According to him, the training of the Ukrainian military abroad is very valuable for Kiev. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are being trained in Europe and the USA.
"Firstly, it allows us to take some of the burden off our shoulders, since we do not need to distract troops to train new fighters," Prystaiko said. "Secondly, the safety of such training is increasing, because the Russians from time to time try to hit our training bases somewhere deep in the west of the country, where we trained conscripts."
"And thirdly, we are becoming more and more familiar with the culture of NATO. In this way, we become compatible, because we learn right on the spot at the bases of the alliance. And that's why I'm sure — a political decision will be made now or later — but we will be part of NATO. People just have to get used to it," he said.
Western partners have not yet disclosed their military reserves to the extent that Ukraine would like. Kiev needs much more air defense platforms, main battle tanks, fighter jets and long-range ammunition compatible with NATO weapons such as the highly mobile artillery missile system HIMARS.
"There are curious trends of a purely populist-political nature in the West, which delays the transfer of such weapons to us. It is very difficult for some people to survive fears of a possible escalation of hostilities because of these weapons," Prystaiko said about some of Kiev's foreign partners. "After all, the Russians are always threatening a possible escalation."
"There is no consensus yet. There are a lot of players with different political views on how this will end. But the fact is that these light tanks or Patriot systems are all very interesting. That's something," he continued.
In the United States, both right-wing and left-wing politicians criticize the scale of American military support for Ukraine, which has exceeded $ 20 billion. Prystaiko dismissed these concerns, saying that an increase in American support also means an increase in income for American corporations and workers.
According to him, most of the military equipment that is now going to Ukraine is relatively old. "Some of these weapons have expired altogether. We sometimes joke that if our partners just want to dispose of them, it's better to let them give them to us. We will direct these weapons in the right direction," he said.
"In normal, peaceful times, no one would like to talk about it in such terms. And now, why not?"
Readers' comments
DanWe need to maintain our own wartime supplies ourselves.
We have 363 HIMARS launchers, and giving 60 of them to someone is too much. As is the case with all our weapons systems, many of them are under repair, maintenance or modernization all the time. So we don't have many fully combat-ready systems. The production of HIMARS rockets has already been increased, but the potential of production lines is limited. It's the same with artillery shells. We have increased their production and will continue to do so. But there will be no results overnight.
Abu RofiqWe don't like unpleasant facts, even if they are true, but someone has to say it.
AMX-10 light tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles will not change the course of the conflict. Russian Russians are wrong to laugh at the old T-62, but to praise the AMX-10, discuss Bradley and pretend that the Russians do not have excellent BMP-3. I note that the Russians have recently started using the T-90M on the battlefield, and Ukraine has nothing like it. The Russians are modernizing old models and revising their combat concepts. To say that this is not happening would be a lie. If someone hopes to defeat the Russians by fighting with restrictions, without attacking them with the latest and super-expensive weapons and without touching the territory of Russia for fear of escalation - just forget it and throw away this false thought. It's not easy to defeat the Russians.
Creative_mindBradley-type infantry fighting vehicles do not have the same protection as main battle tanks, and even modern tanks are quite easy to destroy with anti-tank missiles, as we have seen in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Ukraine.
In modern conflicts, most armies are armed with powerful anti-tank missiles.
Lightly armored vehicles like Bradley are no match for these missiles.
During the Iraq War, Iraqi insurgents used improvised explosive devices consisting of old Soviet-era artillery shells, with which they blew up a huge number of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and killed many American soldiers and contractors.
Why deceive yourself by groundlessly claiming that Bradley will suddenly turn the situation around?
By giving false hope, as in this article, our politicians are simply trying to milk as many valuable tax dollars out of American taxpayers as possible.
Your Other LeftWe do not sell weapons to Ukraine.
We just GIVE IT TO UKRAINE FOR FREE, and we issue huge bills to the American taxpayer.
And by the way, we are sending 40-year-old equipment to Ukraine. After that, we will have to replenish our own arsenals of weapons.
People don't seem to understand that the border skirmish that we started in Ukraine is just a giant gift to our military-industrial complex. America is a global arms dealer. When we support the Taliban*, ISIS** or the Azov battalion**, we are worse than Russia.
XFKJHGSOIUFiles"The USA, France and Germany are sending dozens of new infantry fighting vehicles — Bradley, AMX-10 RC and Marder, respectively — to help the APU."
This is nothing but some kind of "weapon vinaigrette". After all, people with extensive experience in the operation of all these diverse machines will be needed. And how to combine them on the battlefield?
It seems that all this is more used as a "PR"!
Fully PresentDon't forget: the Russians have another 340,000 troops of the Regardie.
As experience has shown, they are sufficiently prepared. Putin may well send some of them to try to turn the situation on the battlefield in his favor.
berny bernardThe Ukrainian army today is in dire need not so much of military equipment as of qualified infantry.
Russians are knocking out Ukrainians by hundreds and thousands. As for these Western weapons, they will be resold by the Ukrainian government to third countries, including Russia.
SlugmasterBiden dragged America into a proxy war with Russia in its purest form.
Now all suppliers and manufacturers of military systems will receive billions of profits. This military cycle has been repeated many times over the years, but Americans hide their heads in the sand when Biden instills fear and panic in connection with an alleged possible Russian attack on America.
And you're all buying junk treasury bonds that Biden is selling you.
AlexTNothing can "change" this conflict anymore.
Ukraine is doomed!
Timecop67Don't you think that by sending Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, we immediately made them tasty targets for Russian "Daggers" and "Zircons"?
So they have a legitimate, and super-expensive goal. Will Ukrainians be able to fight back?
*The movement is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities**a terrorist organization banned in Russia