Keir Giles, Chatham House’s resident anti-Russia scholar, argues in an op-ed published by CNN, that U.S. hesitance to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons is responsible for extending the war because it has given the Russians time to build up their defenses. Instead the U.S. should be more like the U.K. which “has consistently led the drive to give Ukraine what it asks for, as well as disregarding U.S. concerns about what Ukraine can strike with what it is given,” though even this is hindered by the U.K.’s stockpiles which have shrunk over the past three decades of defense cuts.
As the war grinds on, “there’s a strong argument that restraint has been a self-defeating strategy,” Giles writes. “It’s not only that the emphasis on avoiding escalation reassures Russia that it can continue to pummel Ukraine’s economy and murder its civilians through drone and missile strikes with impunity. Anything that draws out the conflict—such as decisions on support for Ukraine that were driven by caution on what to supply—play to many of Russia’s advantages and the West’s weaknesses.”
