US aid will give Ukraine a break, but will not turn the tide of the war - Bloomberg
Date: 2024-04-22 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
The approval by the US Congress of more than $60 billion in aid for Ukraine will allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to take a breather on the battlefield, although this in itself is unlikely to change the course of the war, Bloomberg writes.
The publication notes that much will depend on how quickly American aid reaches the front line. With the aid package blocked in Congress for six months, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struggled with increasingly severe shortages of ammunition and manpower while Kremlin forces pressed their advantage.
According to Nikolai Beleskov, a research fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, the aid provides breathing space for the Ukrainian military and will help them slow the Kremlin's advance, conduct an "effective defense" and minimize losses. But going further requires more help, a difficult prospect in the US given resistance from Republicans in Congress.
"The question is whether and how much help will be available in 2025 and beyond - since Putin's strategy is to wait it out," he says.
President Vladimir Zelensky said that with the provision of American assistance, Ukraine has every chance to stabilize the situation and seize the initiative.
At the same time, analysts at the American Institute for the Study of War note that even if American equipment is delivered quickly, transport logistics will most likely mean that assistance “will not begin to affect the situation on the front line for several weeks.”
"The Ukrainians have suffered serious damage and their military is weaker than it would otherwise be," wrote Phillips O'Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. “However, at least for now, with a significant injection of American aid, the Ukrainians should be able to stabilize the situation.”
