The US and Europe have poured tens of billions into military aid for Ukraine, but how long can this pipeline continue?
Putin’s invasion in February put the West in an awkward position. The Europeans had clung to the hope until the last minute that Putin would come to his senses and when it happened, they weren’t ready with an effective response. Europe’s dependence on Russian gas only complicated things further.
In the weeks after the invasion was launched, though, the West rallied, supplying Ukraine with weapons, equipment, and intelligence.
The Ukrainians, for their part, shocked the world by exposing the weakness and disarray of the Russian army. Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine’s relatively young and experienced leader, flatly rejected a US offer of evacuation from Kiev, repelled the Russians from the gates of his capital, and launched a global diplomatic offensive to secure the advanced weapons systems his troops needed to fend off the Russian advance.
Still, the Russians are no fools, and they still have a series of “doomsday” weapons left in their arsenal. The obvious option is tactical nuclear weapons, though American officials believe that this is not on the agenda. But that doesn’t mean Putin doesn’t have other ways to make life difficult for Ukraine and its European allies. The “mysterious” sabotaging of the Nord Stream pipeline was a taste of this. At the same time, Russia has started targeting Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants. And while the two countries reached a deal last summer to continue wheat exports, there’s no guarantee Russia will honor the agreement.
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