Ahead of the planned Ukrainian offensive, the UK has delivered multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, each costing £2 million. In addition, Rishi Sunak has pledged to supply Ukraine with hundreds of new long-range attack drones. It comes during a visit by Zelenskiy to Chequers today for talks with the PM. Andriy Yermak, a spokesperson from Zelenskiy’s office said that Ukraine’s potential future membership of NATO would also be on the agenda.
Since Russia’s invasion last year, there has been a dramatic worldwide increase in arms sales and military spending. In particular, the West doesn’t seem to have an agenda to push for an end to the conflict. The strategy to help Ukraine by supplying Ukraine’s military with sophisticated armaments and by imposing tough sanctions on Russia has only prolonged the war. The danger of their belligerence is that the war will continue as a long war of attrition and more lives will be lost on both sides. Yet the warmongers here and on the other side of the Atlantic continue with their gung-ho attitude and suppress calls for peace.
Britain is the second biggest spender in this war and has spent billions already sending military aid to Ukraine. It has committed £4.6 billion in arms and is also hosting a training programme (Operation Interflex) with the aim of training 30,000 new and existing Ukrainian personnel by the end of 2023.[1] In January 2023, six-hundred Brimstone anti-tank missiles were also pledged and by the end of March the total number of such weapons was at 3,615.[2] In March, Rishi Sunak announced at the NATO and G7 leader’s meeting that 6,000 defensive missiles including the Starstreak air defence system would be provided to Ukraine.[3] Following a visit to Kyiv, he also announced in April that the UK would provide Ukraine with 120 armoured vehicles and new Harpoon anti-ship missile systems.[4]
But it’s not just the UK’s belligerence that is problematic. NATO allies have been increasing their military support for Ukraine ever since the war began with no retraction in sight. France has recently committed to sending Ukraine dozens of armoured vehicles and light tanks in coming weeks and Germany announced $3 billion of military aid to Ukraine last week. The US, of course, is the biggest provider of military assistance having committed $37.6 billion so far. The European Union is also providing non-lethal and lethal arms through its European Peace Facility. This is the first time the bloc has, in its history, approved the supply of lethal weapons to a third country.[5]
NATO has been at the forefront in giving its military support to Ukraine and will continue provide long term, sustained support as agreed at the Heads of State and Government summit in Madrid at the end of June 2022. In 2022 alone, NATO members committed at least $80.5bn in financial and military aid.
As Chris Cole from Drone Wars rightly said ‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continuing use of lethal force is unlawful and must be resisted. However, there are real questions to be asked now about how such a strategy of supplying evermore lethal military hardware risks expanding rather than ending this war.’[6] NATO’s co-belligerence in the war spearheaded by the US and UK and their failure to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine has claimed countless human lives. The humanitarian crisis will only worsen if the fighting continues.
The risk of pouring arms into Ukraine is already being felt Europe wide. A continuing exodus from Ukraine has already strained Poland and other neighbouring countries. The war has also impacted the global economy, especially to food and energy markets, and fueling the cost-of-living crisis.
It’s becoming increasingly evident that there is no military solution to this war. Providing arms to Ukraine will only prolong this catastrophic war. Giving military support to Ukraine is not an act of solidarity but rather an act of aggression. And it will increase the probability of a nuclear war. A negotiated peace deal is the only way to end the war and bring the much needed peace in the region.
[1] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9477/
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-tank-russia-putin-weapons-uk-b2337883.html
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
[5] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9477/
[6] https://dronewars.net/tag/ukraine/