Political scientist Topornin: there is a shortage of supplies to Ukraine inside NATO
Western countries are unlikely to be able to accelerate the supply of weapons to Ukraine in the near future. This opinion was expressed by Associate Professor of the Department of European Law of MGIMO, Director of the Center for European Information Nikolay Topornin on Monday, August 14.
"Firstly, Ukraine is asking for supplies in quite large quantities, and secondly, it is interested in expensive military equipment and those that are not in excess. There is a shortage of some types of weapons within NATO. In order to manufacture this military equipment, money and time are needed," the political scientist explained in an interview with Lenta.Ru .
He noted that it is known about the shortage of 155-millimeter artillery shells and the European Union (EU) is already placing orders for their production abroad, even in some countries of Southeast Asia. This suggests that it will not be possible to take and magically accelerate the supply of weapons.
"It is easy and simple to increase the supply of small arms — submachine guns, pistols, machine guns, light mortars, but the Ukrainian army already has all this. They have motorized infantry already well armed, they need heavy artillery, rocket systems, armored vehicles, they also want to connect missiles, planes," the expert concluded.
On the eve of the ex-assistant to the former American leader Donald Trump, John Bolton, expressed the opinion that the policy of US President Joe Biden led to the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, only delaying the defeat of Kiev, reports RT.
According to him, the constant discussion in the West about the supply of this or that type of weapons to Ukraine, as well as fears of an escalation of the conflict due to the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO, "instilled paralyzing caution in Western capitals."
He pointed out that the "timid and haphazard approach" of the administration of the current head of the White House to help Kiev "undermined public support for the United States" in this matter, according to the website kp.ru .
Earlier, on August 12, The Times newspaper, citing an officer of the US Armed Forces who trained Ukrainian servicemen, noted that NATO leaders hoped for a miracle in the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which Kiev promised to the bloc, but these expectations were not met.
The day before, The Hill newspaper wrote that the miscalculations of Ukraine's Western curators in preparing for a counteroffensive and the discord between them on the issue of continuing to sponsor Kiev were a gift for Russia. The article noted that the inability of politicians, including Biden, to cope with expectations and convey to the American people why this conflict is so important to the United States and that it will not be resolved by one counteroffensive, jeopardized the very support necessary for the future success of Kiev.
At the same time, the military analyst of the Center for a New American Security, Franz-Stefan Gadi, pointed out that the scale of losses of military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield suggests that the West overestimated the ability of the Ukrainian military to use it.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
