Assuming the status quo, another five years
Khodorkovsky: Half-hearted West prolongs war
4/23/2023 7:21 am
Western partners have provided Ukraine with military equipment worth $55 billion. This is not enough, not only in the opinion of the leadership in Kiev: In an interview, the Russian Putin critic Khodorkovsky calls for 300 fighter jets.
Putin critic and former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky accuses the West of prolonging Russia’s war against Ukraine with its half-hearted military support. “If the West doesn’t want Ukraine to lose the war and wants to stay where it is today, it should continue to supply weapons at the current level,” Khodorkovsi said in an interview with the Funke media group. “With the status quo scenario, Europe would have to live with a long, drawn-out war for the next five years. On the other hand, if Europe wants Ukraine to win, then the key is the air force.”
According to Khodorkovsky, Ukraine can only win the war with Western fighter jets. “In my estimation, 300 Western fighter planes would be a crucial contribution. There are enough professional pilots and volunteers,” Khodorkovsky said. “Russian President Vladimir Putin has about 1,500 fighter jets. They are not very high quality, but they work. The pilots are not well trained. In addition, the resources are pretty exhausted.” The Kremlin critic is convinced that if Ukraine wins a military victory, “Putin will be overthrown.”
Kiev has long been demanding the delivery of modern fighter jets. NATO members Poland and Slovakia have delivered a few Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The Ukrainian armed forces also want Western-style aircraft. This could be an F-16 built in the USA, for example. The US government has so far ruled out the delivery of its jets. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also does not consider fighter jets from German stocks to be suitable for use in Ukraine. Nevertheless, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised Ukraine further talks on the subject on Friday.
Melnyk: Ukraine needs ten times more
The government in Kiev is currently trying to obtain further military aid. On Twitter Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk demanded a tenfold increase in Western support on Saturday. “We are grateful to our allies for their military assistance. But that’s not enough,” wrote the diplomat, who was Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany until last October. “Ukraine needs ten times more to end Russian aggression this year.” So far, all allies together have provided 55 billion US dollars, the equivalent of 50 billion euros, for military aid.
Melnyk also called on the western partners to stop drawing artificial red lines in their support. Rather, they should spend 1 percent of their gross domestic product on arms supplies to Ukraine, he wrote. In the case of Germany alone, that would be more than 35 billion euros. The Ukrainian diplomat said the amounts are small compared to World War II. “The Allies should understand the magnitude of this war.” In addition to military aid, there are billions in payments from Western countries, with which Ukraine maintains its national budget.
Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian attack for around 14 months, with western countries supplying it with weapons and ammunition. Last year Ukraine managed to liberate larger areas after the first Russian offensive. The armed forces are now preparing for a new offensive to liberate even more occupied territories. Russia is also ramping up its wartime economy. The nuclear power is preparing for a long war against Ukraine.