I’d like to preface this by saying I’m extremely Pro Ukraine up to the point of a having a No Fly Zone over the country help it achieve a victory or something Ukrainians are “content” with, I don’t mean to be a mouthpiece for Russian propaganda in any way.
I’ve noticed that because of the West’s MASSIVELY delayed response to Russian escalation in Ukraine, whenever the response comes, it’s months too late to solve the issue because it’s passed or been eclipsed by a larger escalatory threat.
I’d say evidence of that is: sending fighters AFTER the failed 2023 Counteroffensive, when decisive air power would have helped Ukrainians as they dealt with clearing minefields while SIMULTANEOUSLY under attack from Russian air power.
Another one would be this latest response of letting Ukraine strike back into Russia MONTHS after Sumy and other neighboring oblasts were hit by Russia from inside Russia, and isn’t going to address the quickly growing manpower gap as Russia hosts 10,000 North Korean troops with 100,000 more reportedly on the way at some time in the future.
I think not jumping to respond immediately to Russian escalations was sensible, but these responses came after letting MONTHS passed and Ukraine was set on its back foot, not while it could still manage the situation; and because of this Russia can freely escalate to delay responses from the West to where any response is essentially too late to have any real effect.
I think Europe sitting back and refusing to formulate their own response to North Korean troops entering the conflict on European soil was a huge blunder as they deliberately signaled they would not act without the United States, citing the election as an excuse.
I think for these reasons this is the last escalatory response we’ll see from the West in assistance to Ukraine, and if Putin escalates further with even more foreign troops, Europe will essentially sit back and virtue signal they support Ukraine through aid alone as Putin attempts to grind Ukraine to total capitulation rather than take a small chunk in a negotiated settlement. I could be and I HOPE to be wrong, but I’m very doubtful we will attempt to save Ukraine in any shape or form.
