German newspaper: The West supports Ukraine but does not want Russia to fail
(Baonghean.vn) - Die Welt (Germany) newspaper said that despite loud statements of support for Ukraine, the West does not want Russia to be defeated. Western politicians fear a direct military conflict with Russia, so they want to regulate the amount of weapons for Kiev.
According to RT news agency on January 26, Die Welt newspaper said that the statements of Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, about their readiness to help Ukraine are contrary to their actions. In fact, they are providing a limited amount of weapons. This is to ensure that Russia is not defeated.
According to Die Welt, experts and some Western politicians such as Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen have admitted that Western support is not enough. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy said that Western arms supplies to Kiev have been significantly reduced since the fall of 2023. As a result, Ukraine will receive only 300-400 thousand artillery shells, instead of the millions promised. In practice, this means that Ukraine fires five times less artillery every day than Russia.
Die Welt notes that the situation is exacerbated by the image of a strong Ukraine promoted by Western politicians in their speeches. Instead of openly admitting defeat, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to praise the strength of his country’s army and emphasize Russia’s weakness. However, this approach creates a false public perception of the conflict and does not contribute to calls for arms supplies to Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said last week: "We are providing as much as we can." Die Welt newspaper commented that this was a political ploy, because the West was providing exactly the amount of weapons it wanted Kiev to receive, so that "Ukraine could hold its ground and not be crushed by Russia."
According to Die Welt, if Western politicians were interested in Ukraine's victory, Berlin would provide Kiev with Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 km. In fact, Western assistance is limited to 40 outdated ATACMS missiles out of more than 2,000 stored in the US arsenal. Moreover, Washington agreed to this only after repeated persuasion from Kiev.
Die Welt believes that such decisions appear to be a "sophisticated" strategic calculation by Western politicians, and are clearly not beneficial to Ukraine.
The West fears an escalating conflict with Russia, a country with a large number of nuclear weapons. Therefore, the West wants to maintain the status quo, even if that means Ukraine has to accept territorial concessions./.
