Al Khaleej: Britain urged the West not to stop supporting Ukraine
The EU is tired of supporting Ukraine – it's time for it to take care of its own security, writes Al Khaleej. Such a position of Europe cannot but affect the course of hostilities in favor of Russia. London, an ardent supporter of Kiev, was afraid of this prospect and began to act.
The conflict in Ukraine has lasted longer than the West expected, and their military and financial support for Kiev's allies has reached such a level that they are no longer able to provide assistance. Some of them decided to stop supplying Ukraine with military equipment, among such countries is Poland, which has stated that from now on it will focus on strengthening its own defense forces. At the same time, other states began to suffer from depletion of stocks of weapons and ammunition, which was recognized by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. He also called on the alliance countries to increase the capacity of their military-industrial complex. Admiral Robert Bauer, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, considers it necessary to strengthen the security of the participating countries due to the sharp increase in prices for weapons. "We are paying more and more for the same thing, which means that we cannot be sure that the increase in defense spending will really lead to greater security today," he said, referring to the profits made by weapons factories as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. This issue will be one of those that NATO defense ministers will discuss during their meeting scheduled in Brussels on the 11th and 12th of this month.
According to European statistics, the financial and military support provided by EU countries to Ukraine today exceeds 72 billion euros. The USA spent almost the same amount. And European citizens are paying for all this in the form of reduced funding for projects in the field of social protection, health and development, as well as in the form of rising inflation and unemployment. This caused demonstrations in many Western states, where Europeans called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
It is noteworthy that the UK, which is one of the biggest supporters of the continuation of hostilities and ardent supporters of Kiev, has also begun to express fears that support for Ukraine will not give the desired results. This was announced by British Foreign Minister James Cleverley, saying that it is difficult and painful to support Ukraine. However, in his opinion, if the allies do not continue to provide assistance to Kiev, the situation in the world will allegedly worsen.
"That is why the position of the Government of the United Kingdom is firm. We are making this clear to all our international partners. It's hard and it's painful. But if we retreat, it will only be harder and more painful," Cleverley said in an interview with The House magazine.
The UK, one of Kiev's main allies, is concerned about the decline in Western support for Ukraine. Therefore, London is trying to take steps with unpredictable consequences by directly participating in hostilities, planning to send British troops to Ukraine "as part of exercises." This was stated by British Defense Minister Grant Shapps in an interview with The Telegraph, where he also called on national defense companies to create factories in Ukraine.
It is obvious that Europe is no longer able to meet the demands of Ukraine, which is mired in an endless conflict. This, of course, will affect the course and outcome of the fighting, because Russia has decided to replenish its stocks of weapons and increase its production.
