By David Sole
In a desperate attempt to shore up the faltering Ukrainian military in its proxy war with Russia, the European Union and NATO allies are stealing the interest from Russian assets frozen since 2022 and transferring that money to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian news agency RBC reports that the “EU to send 1.4 billion Euros from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for weapons.” This is to be the first transfer “from the profits of frozen Russian assets” and is expected to take place in August. A high ranking EU spokesperson, Josep Borrell, made the announcement at a press conference “following the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.”
Russia had previously announced that it considered any such seizure of its frozen assets or the interest on them to amount to theft. Moscow has vowed to take legal action and other retaliatory financial action in response.
In any case the sums involved are small in relation to the huge amounts in military aid and financial assistance to run the country that have already been sent to Ukraine and will be needed as the war continues. Literally hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of assistance have been delivered over the past two years.
It was previously reported that Japan “will shoulder $3.3 billion of the loan pledged by the Group of Seven (G7) to Ukraine covered by Russian assets proceeds…The G7 pledged the $50 billion loan to Ukraine during a June summit.”
Ukraine is also expecting a shipment of F-16 fighter jets to rebuild its decimated air force. Russia has maintained air superiority over the lengthy battle front from the beginning of the conflict in February 2022. Ukraine and its Western sponsors have high hopes for the influx of these fighter jets and their newly trained pilots. How effective these pilots, with a lack of time to train, can be does not bode well for their survival in combat.
The Kyiv Independent reported on July 10 that “F-16s from Netherlands, Denmark [are] on their way to Ukraine”, which was announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. More of the jets are expected later from Belgium and Norway.
But hardly had the announcement been made than Ukraine’s President Zelensky declared that he needed many more of the F-16s than were already pledged. He also pointed out that Ukraine was vulnerable to Russia’s air superiority and needed “25 Patriot air defense systems to fully defend its airspace.” However, there is a dire shortage of the Patriot systems that can be provided. Many Patriots have been destroyed by Russian missile strikes inside Ukraine. WSB News in Atlanta admitted in its reporting that only “four of the sophisticated and expensive Patriot systems” have been promised by the U.S. and NATO. Zelensky also admitted that “the deliveries [of the F-16s] won’t on their own be a game-changer in the war, given that the Russian air force is larger.”
It should also be noted that Ukraine is not the only one getting more jet fighters. Global Defense News reported on July 16 that the “Russian Air Force receives a new batch of modernized MiG-31BMs interceptors with long-range missiles.” These jet fighters have already been deployed to their permanent bases, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The planes are said to have “played a critical role in the conflict in Ukraine, with several confirmed shoot-downs of Ukrainian Su-25s and Su-24s.” Ukrainian F-16 pilots will have to worry about the MiG-31BM’s ability to “track 24 targets and engage six of them with missiles.” Targets are said to be detectable at 135 kilometer distance vulnerable to “the R-37M ultra-long-range missiles, which have an interception range of maneuvering targets up to 230 kilometers.”
None of these measures by the imperialist powers can be expected to turn the tide on the battlefield where superior Russian air power, and dominance in weaponry and troop numbers are pushing Ukraine back on every front. If the coming months continue the terrible losses by Ukraine in soldiers and equipment, the question of a collapse of its military abilities may arise.
There is no sign, however, that the U.S. and NATO leaders have yet considered allowing Ukraine to enter serious negotiations to end the devastation of the war. A collapse of Ukraine’s military would confront the imperialists with a decision whether or not to directly enter the war. This could rapidly escalate into an unimaginable conflagration.
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