Ukraine deserves our full support
Nearly a year has passed since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, and Kyiv clearly knows who its true friends are. Before the war began, the UK was among the few to take seriously the intelligence warnings that the Kremlin would indeed attack. While other European countries sat on their hands or were actively obstructive, Britain sent thousands of anti-tank weapons that proved crucial in the early days of the conflict. Yesterday, President Zelensky gave a rousing address in Westminster Hall in which he thanked the UK for its support from day one, paying particular tribute to Boris Johnson.
As his reception in Parliament attested, there is cross-party agreement on the need to sustain that support. Aside from the geopolitical necessity of defeating Putin’s invasion and dissuading him from violating any other borders, the conflict has a strong moral dimension that has mobilised the goodwill of the public. However, as the war enters its second year, there is little sign that the Kremlin is prepared to let up. Kyiv has warned that the Russians are planning a fearsome new offensive and Putin is presumably confident that his resolve is firmer than that of the West.
The belated decision to dispatch tanks to Ukraine might have given the Russians cause to doubt that calculation, but Mr Zelensky clearly does not think heavy armour will be enough. Presenting Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, with a Ukrainian pilot’s helmet, he called for combat aircraft – “wings for freedom”.
Thus far, the West has stopped short of sending fighter jets, although the UK has now said it is investigating it. Some defence analysts fear that it would represent an escalation too far, perhaps prompting Putin to unleash the nuclear weapons he has long made veiled threats about using. But they have been wrong on that danger before. Not so long ago, it was said that Kyiv should not be given anti-air defences lest it should provoke the Kremlin.
Mr Zelensky appears confident that Ukraine will prevail. It will be the “most important victory of our lifetime”, a defeat not just for Putin but for aggressors across the world who have malicious designs on their neighbours. But the West has to decide whether it really does wish to help the Ukrainians to drive the Russians from their borders, or merely to conspire in a bloody stalemate. Britain has gone it alone before in the extent of its support. It should not be afraid to do so again.