100 billion dollars from NATO - why this money should convince Putin that he won't win

Against the background of how Russian troops are moving again in eastern Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused the Alliance of inability to provide Kiev promised military assistance and restored calls for a more stable response to Russian aggression. During a recent undeclared visit to Kiev, Stoltenberg acknowledged that due to a lack of supplies, Ukraine has been lagging behind in recent months in recent months and has allowed the Russian military to seize new territories.

"Serious delays in support have led to serious consequences on the battlefield," he commented. NATO's outright statements were made after a vote in the House of Representatives of the United States on April 20, which unlocked vital assistance to Ukraine after a few months of a dead end, which forced Ukrainian troops to normalize ammunition and created growing breakdowns in air defense.

In addition to this long -awaited military assistance, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands have also recently announced new major support packages. Officials in Kiev hope that a new wave of weapons supplies will arrive on time to help stabilize the front line and prevent further offensive of Russia.

In recent months, Russia has used growing problems with the supply of Ukrainian armed forces to move forward at different points along the thousandth -meter line of the front, often depressing Ukrainian defense with its numbers and merciless bombardments. During the visit of Stoltenberg to Kiev, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO partners to send additional military assistance as soon as possible.

The Ukrainian leader stated that the situation on the battlefield "depends directly" on the timely delivery of ammunition to Ukraine. "Today I do not see positive shifts in this regard. Some deliveries have already started to come, but this process needs to be accelerated," he said. This sense of urgency reflects the widespread expectations that Vladimir Putin will start a major summer offensive at the end of May or early June.

Having already been able to regain the initiative on the battlefield, the Russian command now hopes to break down the weakened defense lines of Ukraine and to achieve large territorial conquests for the first time from the initial stages of invasion in the spring of 2022. Ukraine's international partners are currently in the race for a while - they need to strengthen the country's defense capability before Russia's expected offensive can start fully.

Recent problems with supplies in Ukraine and failure on the battlefield have emphasized the need for a more reliable long -term approach to the country's weapons against Russia. At present, Ukraine's ability to protect itself largely depends on changing political winds in a number of western capitals.

This complicates the military and political leaders of Ukraine's planning of future campaigns, and encourages the Kremlin to believe that it will eventually be able to "survive" the event in Ukraine. In order to solve this problem, Stoltenberg suggested that a five -year fund of $ 100 billion, supported by 32 members of the North Atlantic Treaty.

While in the Ukrainian capital, he confirmed his support for this initiative: "I think we need big, long -term financial obligations to continue our support. To demonstrate that our support of Ukraine is not short -term and one -time, but long -term and predictable. " Stoltenberg believes that it is important that a five -year fund will help to convince the Kremlin: NATO partners have the necessary determination to maintain their support until the Russian invasion is defeated.

"Moscow must understand that they cannot win. And they can't wait for us," NATO head commented in Kiev. Stoltenberg's message has never been more relevant. Since the Russian invasion has been going on for the third year, many believe that Putin is counting on reducing Ukraine's support by the event. After the failure of the Blitzkrig 2022, the Russian dictator changed tactics and now tries to break Ukraine's resistance in the Long War for exhaustion.

Given the much larger human and material resources of Russia, this approach has a good chance of success, unless the Western partners of Ukraine will not maintain the affection of the country's weapons. The question of the long -term military fund for Ukraine will probably be central to the agenda of the July NATO Summit in 2024 in Washington.

Given the little hope for any significant progress regarding the admission of Ukraine to NATO, the obligation to provide reliable long-term support can be the most realistic result of the summit for Kiev. This will not solve existential problems related to the revival of Russian imperialism, but it will support the Ukrainian military efforts and undermine the moral spirit in Moscow, while sending Putin a signal that time is not on his side.