‘Poor policy’ for the US to arm Ukraine

ARLINGTON: On his visit to Ukraine this week, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he favoured providing “defensive weapons” to the former Soviet republic.

According to recent reports, this military aid would involve sending Javelin anti-tank guided missiles to Ukraine, which has been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donbass region for more than three years.

The Trump administration’s plan to arm Kiev is a serious political decision that could have far-reaching strategic consequences. The US is walking into a proxy war with Moscow – one that it is unprepared to win.

While arming Kiev may seem like an easy political win, it is poor policy. The idea of providing Ukraine with anti-tank missiles worth $50 million (R652m) is reminiscent of Washington’s half-hearted efforts to train and arm the moderate Syrian opposition.

That plan was ill-conceived and ended in defeat after Russia escalated its military backing of the government of President Bashar al-assad in 2015. Russia’s interests in Ukraine are greater and its military superiority is well established. In contrast, the US’S coercive credibility in the region is nonexistent.

The proposal to send arms to Kiev is also untimely. Ukraine has not seen a Russian offensive, or lost significant territory to Russia, in more than two years. Of all the possible ways to help the country improve its armed forces, dumping missiles on an unreformed military hardly seems the smart way forward. This is the time to help the country transform, not play geopolitical checkers with missiles.

Leading American generals in the region have long argued that providing Ukraine with arms, specifically Javelins, would “not change the situation strategically in a positive way”. – New York Times