Westliche Unterstützung für die Ukraine (Sanktionen/Waffenlieferungen/Sonstiges)

[Schneemann]

Interessante Perspektive...

‘Ukraine fatigue’ is a problem of western leaders’ own making

Two months into Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, I warned about “Ukraine fatigue”. In the event, western leaders and their publics surprised everyone by how resilient their support for Ukraine turned out to be — morally, financially and (although always several steps too late) militarily. But while it took much longer than I feared, Ukraine fatigue has caught up with us.

Don’t be too encouraged by EU leaders’ ability to avoid the worst. To be sure, the decision to open membership talks with Ukraine (and Moldova, and — in time — Bosnia and Herzegovina) is welcome. And in spite of Hungary’s opposition, the other 26 EU members will undoubtedly find a way to secure their promised €50bn four-year funding programme for Ukraine when they reconvene in the new year. [...]

They come after a month in which the public discourse on Ukraine changed markedly for the worse. The focus shifted from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s heroism to his exhaustion, and from Ukrainian unity to political divisions. Much has recently been made of mistrust between the president and his top general, Valeriy Zaluzhny, and of the stalled counteroffensive. The west’s failure to push forward with financial and military support has rightly garnered a lot of attention. [...]

As for the disappointing counteroffensive, military experts had warned beforehand that it would be unprecedented for such an operation to succeed in the absence of air superiority. And the US and EU’s difficulties in pushing their funding promises over the line have been going on for months.

What is striking, however, was the speed with which these well-known facts came to be interpreted as a picture of a faltering Ukraine and a wavering west. The lesson is, in other words, how suddenly a narrative dam can break even without big changes on the ground. In a matter of weeks, Vladimir Putin’s gamble that the west cannot stay the course looked better than it ever had — and began to be acknowledged as such. [...]

Bluntly, western leaders let their publics feel that this would be easier than it is. They never dared to ask for sacrifice in the form of a “war economy lite”. But to do so remains crucial in a Europe whose security will still depend on helping Ukraine to victory — especially if Donald Trump returns as US president. Resilience and strategic autonomy demand a minimum ability to accept some privations, because Ukraine’s defeat would make everything worse.

After the decision to open Ukraine’s EU membership talks was announced in Brussels, Zelenskyy said: “History is made by those who don’t get tired of fighting for freedom.” That is not quite right. Everyone gets tired. History is made by those who press on nonetheless.

https://www.ft.com/content/dcc28873-b462...d7557deb4e

Im Kern: Wir ertappen uns wieder mal selbst dabei, dass wir die Ukrainer aufgeben - oder keine "Lust" mehr haben -, weil wir einfach frustriert uns abzuwenden drohen, nur weil eben ein paar Dutzend westlichen MBTs nicht der Durchbruch zum Ural gelang...

Schneemann