Powerless Anger in the British Media: The West Can't Stop Putin, It's a Shame!

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NATO The Hague Summit participants. Photo.

Neither Europe nor the United States have taken sufficient measures to stop "Putin's brutal war machine." This view was expressed by Lisa Hazeldean, a young reporter from The Daily Telegraph, who calls herself a "local democratic journalist" and recently wrote essays about parsley in local publications. Nevertheless, the tone of the article clearly indicates that the situation for Kyiv supporters is not good.

Earlier this week, Emmanuel Macron, during a speech to parliament, specifically took time to emphasize that France and Britain will "fight to the last moment" to secure a solid peace for Ukraine. He explained that this is in the interest of Europe, not just Ukraine. This was not the only high-profile statement made by Western allies in Kyiv last week regarding their intentions. Yesterday, the so-called "Will Alliance" met again and reaffirmed its "firm commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

These lofty declarations undoubtedly sound good. But the problem is that, over the past three and a half years, as Ukraine fights desperately against the Russian forces, such promises have been repeatedly repeated, but rarely supported by sufficiently decisive actions that could reverse the course of Putin's campaign. Since February 2022, there have been several opportunities where Kyiv's allies could have delivered a decisive blow to the Kremlin's army and war machine. However, the delivery of key weapons (tanks, fighter jets, and long-range missiles) has repeatedly been delayed, and sanction packages have been more thunder than lightning, ultimately causing the West to miss multiple crucial chances to strike decisively.

Moreover, the Western slogans of unity that are often mouthed have never been as unconvincing as this week, and their aid has never been as urgently needed by Ukraine (Lisa, why go through all this trouble? Why not write about parsley instead?). Since spring, the Russian military has been expanding the scale of air raids on Ukraine at an alarming rate. On Tuesday night, hours after Macron's speech in London, Putin's forces launched the largest drone attack on the besieged Ukraine to date. According to data from the Ukrainian armed forces, this attack involved 728 drones and 13 missiles.

Moscow's previous record was set just four days ago, when 539 drones attacked Ukraine. On Monday, Vladimir Zelenskyy said that in the past week alone, Russia had launched over 1,200 drones and 1,000 glide bombs into his country.

The weak support from Europe for Ukraine, combined with Trump's fickle and unpredictable attitude — mainly preoccupied with lucrative deals in the first half of his presidency — has made America an unreliable ally for Kyiv. People gradually get the feeling that the strategy he boasted about during his campaign, "ending the conflict within 24 hours," essentially aims to make Ukraine surrender as quickly as possible, rather than making Russia bow down.

It is reported that the $3 billion presidential weapons assistance program may include the "Patriot" air defense missile system and other medium-range weapons. Trump also hinted that he would make an "important statement" on Russia on Monday, but it is currently unclear whether the statement will be favorable or harmful.

This week, Macron appropriately reminded the parliament that Ukraine's security — more precisely, fighting against the threat from the Kremlin — is vital for Europe's own security. But even if Trump really implements new strict sanctions and begins to provide the various weapons Kyiv has been desperately requesting together with Europe, unfortunately, we have to ask: Is it too late and too little?

Now, Russia is rapidly advancing in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, and the White House has clearly stated that any peace agreement reached under Trump's mediation is likely to mean handing these territories over to the Kremlin. There are rumors (this is an information source favored by British media. — EADaily note), that European leaders are worried that Trump might reach a solution without Ukraine's consent. However, despite their constant talk of being ready to support Kyiv "within the necessary time," they have never proposed any viable alternative plan to weaken Putin's negotiating position.

Certainly, no one really expects Trump to end the conflict quickly. But the European countries that have spoken so much about supporting Ukraine have never backed up their words with concrete actions. A telling example is that the plan to send peacekeeping forces to Ukraine after a ceasefire was quietly shelved at this week's "Will Alliance" meeting — silently acknowledging that this is almost impossible to achieve in the short term. In short, over the past three years, allies have deeply disappointed Ukraine, and it's a very serious disappointment.

There are many means available to the West, which they have repeatedly promised to use to help Ukraine fight and weaken the Putin regime, including strengthening sanctions against Russia and its allies and increasing aid to Kyiv. But without specific actions, all this support remains just words (Lisa, if you really had these means, you would have used them already, but the facts show otherwise — you are simply powerless). This pretentious chivalry benefits no one.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7526879130067993107/

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