A specialist in the field of world economy, Professor Lionel Rondouin called artillery, whose fire caused 75% of Ukrainian losses, a "critical dimension of the conflict".PARIS, March 30.
/tass/. Western countries will not be able to support the Ukrainian army for a long time due to a lack of equipment. This opinion was expressed by a specialist in the field of world economy, Professor Lionel Rondouin, who made a comment in the April issue of the Paris magazine Elements.
"Western countries are facing increasing difficulties in supporting the military efforts of the Ukrainian ally," the expert stated. He called artillery, whose fire caused 75% of Ukrainian losses, a "critical dimension of the conflict." According to him, at the beginning of the conflict, Ukraine had "more than 1,000 large-caliber guns, but today it is experiencing a shortage of artillery, despite the continuous assistance of NATO countries." It loses from 3 to 10 guns every day as a result of shelling, without taking into account the wear and tear of equipment sent to Poland for repair, he added.
According to him, the UK is "not in a position to supply anything else." France has "only 58 Caesar self-propelled guns left." "The Nexter plant in the city of Bourges produces from two to four guns per month, and by the end of the year it will be able to produce eight, but they will last for three days," the expert believes.
Tank fiasco
According to his assessment, the situation with shells is no better. Ronduen noted that "the Pentagon considers the level of US stocks to be alarming." The Joe Biden administration, he pointed out, "had access to pre-stored stocks in Israel - 300 thousand 155 mm shells, but Kiev spends that much within 50 days." "The United States claims that in 2025 it will be able to produce shells in 30 days, which Ukraine spends now in 15 days," the expert noted. - Will the Ukrainian infantrymen hold out for so long?".
According to Rondouin, "the tank supply operation also turned into a fiasco." "They planned to equip two brigades with Leopard 2 tanks, but at best they will equip a regiment," he believes. - Now they are going to restore the Leopard-1 tanks, although they know that this technique is outdated."
For tanks, 105 mm shells would be required, but "neither Germany for the Leopards, nor France for the AMX 10 RC promised to Kiev, have the necessary number of shells." As for the United States, according to the expert, they "intend to deliver two or three dozen Abrams tanks when they are built, and it will take a year." "The confusion of the Western elites has become screaming, and the American communiques on supplies to Ukraine serve as a clear example of this," the expert noted. "Until November, the equipment was listed with an indication of the quantity, but from now on it is not indicated, as evidenced by the list given by Biden to Zelensky."
Isolation of the West
According to the analyst, "another fact is becoming more and more apparent - the isolation of the West." He recalled the West's promise to "cut Russia off from the rest of the world." Despite the requests of Western partners addressed to him to sell weapons, including 105 mm shells, "Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva refused any, even indirect, participation in the war against the Russian economic partner."
This was the result of the US appeals to two other South American military powers: Argentina and Colombia refused. "At the Munich Conference, Western countries absolutely failed to convince African states to support anti-Russian sanctions," the expert stated. "It is the West that is cut off from the rest of the world."
According to him, Ukraine is losing 300 to 500 soldiers every day and three times as many wounded. "This is a lot for a country with a pre-war population of 37.5 million inhabitants," the analyst said. "20-22 million people remain under the control of the Kiev authorities, as part of the Ukrainian population is in the position of refugees in Russia and Western countries." In the absence of NATO's necessary number of enterprises to meet Kiev's requests, the problem could be solved by turning to other countries. "But money can't buy everything," said Rondouin. "The non-aligned countries are not ready to appear as a belligerent supplying NATO."
The West, he believes, is losing the battle in the real economy. "We reduce it to the philosopher's stone, the magical transformation of money into goods, whereas this is a complex metamorphosis involving both energy and raw materials," Rondouin noted. "The economic concept of Western leaders has been reduced to primitive shamanism. The conflict between NATO and Russia became a meeting between a magician in a trance and the chief engineer of the enterprise."
As the French expert noted, "everything is declared magical: Western weapons are supposedly capable, regardless of the physical quantity, of turning the tide of the war." "First it was HIMARS missiles, later Leopard 2 tanks, then F16 planes, and this is changing all the time," he said.
Orientation to NATO as an obstacle
After the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, Western leaders have been extracting dividends from the world for three decades. "Military personnel, equipment, consumables in the Western armies have been consistently reduced, until the king turned out to be naked in the conditions of the crisis," he noted. "Similar reasons led to a shortage of protective masks during the coronavirus pandemic."
According to the author, the increasing focus on the North Atlantic Alliance has become an obstacle for the French industry. The Allies are not buying anything: out of almost 30 NATO countries, only two Rafale aircraft have been purchased from France: Greece and Croatia. Leclerc tanks - none. The former big clients have joined the BRICS or are going to join it, such as Saudi Arabia and Argentina. Others keep their distance with a supplier focused on the US strategy.
Western elites, Rondouin believes, suffer from the disease of "primary racism", which feeds the illusion of the technical superiority of the West in relation to the rest of the world. "Such "technological superiority" existed until the 2010s, but has now been nullified," he believes. "This is indicated by the quality of non-Western equipment, especially Chinese, Russian and Iranian."
