Why are Western European Governments beating war drums?
My article published in the Blitz newspaper
This is a bit long but if you want to understand the Ukraine war without propaganda, you must read it.
The ongoing Russia, Ukraine war has reached a dangerous and complicated stage. To unravel the present situation we need to look back at the beginning of the conflict. In 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine fearing that it will join the NATO alliance. In June 2021, Ukraine and NATO forces had launched joint naval drills in the Black Sea, codenamed Sea Breeze 2021. Russia condemned the drills. It also feared that Ukraine would install NATO missiles on its soil. Russia demanded guarantees that Ukraine would never join NATO. Ukraine on the other hand feared that Russia which had annexed Russian speaking Crimea and disputed Donbas might occupy other parts of Ukraine.
Over the last 3 years President Zelensky of Ukraine has become a world figure meeting high profile politicians and attending international meetings where he has sought support for his countries war against Russia. He has cajoled and chided world leaders into supporting the war. He has been welcomed everywhere and nations have pledged billions of pounds to fight Russia. Global aid to Ukraine since 2022 has reached a staggering $430billion euros committed as of December 2024 according to the Kiel Institute for the World Aid. One wonders where this amount of money goes and whether the average Ukrainian gets any benefits. The US has given $119.7 billion while Europe has given $1387 billion so far to Ukrainian war effort.
The UK support for Ukraine.
The UK co-hosted the London Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2023, raising over $60 billion. The United Kingdom has committed 12.8 billion for Ukraine. Out of this £7.8 billion is in military support. According to the ministry of defence Britain has provided Ukraine with following military support:
It has sent around 400 different capabilities to Ukraine, with a new £150 million package including drones, tanks and air defence systems announced on 12 February 2025, a £225 million package including drones, boats and munitions and 650 lightweight multirole missiles.30,000 new attack and surveillance drones will be delivered to Ukraine via the UK and Latvia-led drone coalition. Ukraine has received a new rapidly-developed bespoke air defence system called Gravehawk, jointly funded by the UK and Denmark. Two prototypes of the air defence capability system were tested in Ukraine in September, and a further 15 will follow this year. Operation Interflex has trained more than 51,000 Ukrainian recruits in the last two years. Ukrainian officer cadets will be trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, helping to develop Ukraine’s future military leaders. British officer cadets will also be able to attend training colleges in Ukraine, learning first-hand from Ukrainian Armed Force about their fight on the battlefield. The UK has also supplied the Storm Shadow Missile which has been developed by a Franco-British collaboration. Each missile costs $1 million. Ukraine has fired this missile into Russia. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Dozens of other British military and humanitarian projects are going on in support of Ukraine. On 5th March 2025 British PM, Keith Starmer called a, ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting of around 20 countries to defend Ukraine and put troops on the ground in Ukraine as a peace keeping force. He claimed that we are, ‘at a crossroads in History’. Foreign Minister David Lammy had earlier said that Putin’s Russia is a threat to all Europe.
Starmer also pledged an additional £1.62 billion of UK Export Finance to buy more than 5000 air defence missiles. Manufacturing of these missiles has already started. Britain has also taken in 219,400 Ukrainians refugees as of 30th September 2024.
Germany too has pledged €44 Billion to Ukraine. Germany will supply Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks for defence against Russia. This too is not exhaustive. Germany is helping with a huge number of military hardware. It is going to train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
France is also providing €1.6 billion worth of military goods to Ukraine. It has also pledged to give army combat vehicles and missiles that are being phased out such as, AMX-10 RCR light tanks and surface-surface air missiles. Apart from that it is giving Ukraine anti-ship missiles including Exocet missiles. It has also pledged to deliver Mirage 2000 fighter jets. President Emmanuel Macron is also considering giving Frances nuclear umbrella to the rest of Europe.
The Human Cost of the War
More than 700,000 Russians have been killed or injured, according to a January 2025 estimate. 48,000 are missing.400,000 Ukrainians have been killed or injured and 35,000 are missing. There have been 388 Russian civilian deaths and 12,500 Ukrainian civilian deaths. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced within Ukraine.
Power drunk Zelensky and Gung Ho NATO alliance.
It seems that being feted by the NATO nations and treated like a hero Zelensky wants to be known as someone who took on Russia and won. Riding high on misplaced euphoria he thought he could even take on US president Trump. It is a typically narcissist behaviour. His disastrous falling out with Trump has resulted in all US aid being stopped for Ukraine. Crucially the US has also stopped all intelligence sharing.
Zelensky’s credentials as a leader were laid bare when he entered into an unnecessary verbal spat with president Trump. He seemed to have forgotten that the US had provided the highest amount of aid to Ukraine since the war started. Zelensky came back to his NATO alliance friends and to his delight he has found them more than willing to assist him. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, presented to NATO leaders an €800bn (£670bn) plan to increase European defence spending. She said it was “a watershed moment for Europe” and also for Ukraine.
NATO’s Proxy war with Russia.
NATO countries have for the last 3 years fought a Proxy war against Russia. They have encouraged and aided Zelensky to keep fighting the Russians. In the process Ukraine has suffered tens of thousands of deaths and the country has been slowly destroyed. President Trump was right to urge Zelensky to negotiate a peace deal with Russians or risk a world war. We are at that phase now. One wrong move by the leaders of the UK, France and Germany could ignite a catastrophe. Does Zelensky not feel the pain of hundreds of thousands of his countrymen and women killed and maimed? Does he not feel for their families? His desire to win a war against Russia is a Chimera.
Why are NATO leaders so belligerent and preparing for war?
The belligerence shown to Russia by Britain, France and Germany is breath taking. Russia has no history of war with Britain or France. As far as Germany is concerned it was Hitlers Germany which invaded Russia during the second World War. There are no ideological differences either as Russia is no longer a Communist State. NATO leaders are telling their citizens that Russia might invade Europe. People in the UK, France and Germany do not want wars but their leaders are trying their best to up the ante.
It is axiomatic that Russia is in no shape to invade anyone. It has lost a lot of men in Ukraine and there are no reasons at all for them to invade any country. This is a red herring to create jobs in the defence industry and win lucrative contracts in a post war Ukraine. Ukraine has precious minerals like Lithium and NATO countries would expect Ukraine to oblige by signing favourable deals for them in sourcing them. Ukraine is also a bread basket for the World and companies from NATO countries have started buying agricultural land to profit from it.
Lastly PM Keith Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron have done big damage to the transatlantic ties between the US and Europe. Instead of talking sense to Zelensky they have bolstered his stance. President Trump will not forgive that easily. We are in a precarious situation. Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron must deescalate the situation and give peace a chance.
Nitin Mehta
25 March 2025
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