The Americans are delivering plenty of weapons to Ukraine, including modern ones, but no fighter jets, no long-range missiles, no attack drones.
(Photo: IMAGO/ANE Edition)
Military support to Ukraine has reached a point where it can hardly be improved in quality without answering a strategic question that Europeans and Americans have so far evaded. Should the Ukrainian military be enabled to defeat Russia or to force a negotiated solution that is as advantageous as possible?
So far, the question has primarily arisen in connection with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s refusal to publicly say that Ukraine must win the war. Scholz’s rhetorical restraint contrasts with the clear statements made by Germany’s neighbors. Poles, Brits, Finns, Baltics: They all say Ukraine must win.
However, these countries also make decisions about arms deliveries with ulterior motives. That will become clear again on Tuesday when the western allies meet in Brussels in the so-called Ramstein format. This informal group of more than 50 nations coordinates the transfer of arms and ammunition to Ukraine. One of the topics discussed will be the fighter jets demanded by Ukraine.
Germany, Europe, USA – nobody wants to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine
But there will be no breakthrough at this meeting either. Nobody wants to go so far as to deliver fighter jets. Not even the British, who have ventured further than the other NATO partners. Brussels diplomats are therefore dampening expectations.
Underlying this restraint is the difference between defeating the enemy and forcing a negotiated settlement. The hesitation is central to the Western response to Russian aggression. This applies not only to Chancellor Scholz, but also to most other European countries. And it applies to the USA, the most important donor nation to Ukrainians.
Every week, Moritz Koch, head of the Handelsblatt office in Brussels, analyzes trends and conflicts, regulatory projects and strategic concepts from the inner workings of the EU, alternating with other Brussels correspondents. Because anyone interested in business needs to know what’s going on in Brussels. You can reach him at: [email protected]
The Americans are supplying plenty of weapons, including modern ones, but no fighter jets, no long-range missiles, no attack drones. They do this because they don’t want Ukraine to take the war to Russia.
War in Ukraine: Western solidarity has limits
Worries about escalation are hampering support from the West, whose main goal remains to avoid being drawn into the war. Assistance to Ukraine is only rhetorically limitless, in practice it is carefully dosed. Russia is to be decisively weakened, but not completely defeated. It should agree to peace negotiations without being driven to the use of nuclear weapons by military humiliation.
It is from this hidden calculation that the limits of support for Kiev are derived. And the weapons aid has meanwhile arrived at these limits. Western warplanes would enable rapid strikes against targets in Russia, such as the airfields from which Russian bombers take off, firing cruise missiles at Ukrainian power grids and thermal power plants.
From Ukraine’s point of view, such strikes would not only be justified, but also necessary to stop the destruction of its civilian infrastructure. Ukraine needs fighter jets. But she won’t get it for the time being because Ukraine’s goals and those of NATO are not identical, despite all the declarations of solidarity.
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