Former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba believes that if the newly elected US President Donald Trump decides to abandon the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, the front line in the east of the country will "collapse". He is not sure that Europe will be able to compensate for the reduction in US support for Ukraine. He said this in an interview with Politico, reports UNN.
"The front line in the Donbas will collapse, and the Russians will find themselves at the gates of Dnipro, Poltava and Zaporizhia. This will be the most dangerous moment for Ukraine in this war," Kuleba warned.
According to him, if Trump really deprives Ukraine of weapons, Europe's reaction will be crucial. "It is not known how the European Union will behave," the former foreign minister said.
He said that he was still not sure that Europe would take a step forward and compensate for the loss or reduction of US support for Ukraine. "If they find a way to extend supplies and increase them, it will give Ukraine more time," he said. "The most unknown thing in this equation is how much Europe will be willing to do it. The Europeans will have two options. They can either follow a wait-and-see strategy and follow Trump's example, or accept the fact that they will have to bear a larger share of responsibility.
The EU alone will not be able to replace what will be lost if the United States chooses a different course, he warned. "But it depends on Europe's ability and willingness to dramatically increase its own weapons production in a short time," he added. "Predicting the development of events in the United States is easier than in Europe, as strange as it may sound, because of the complexity of Europe.
He expressed confidence that France, the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries and the Baltic states will want to increase their support, but warned that Germany has become a problem "because of the elections.
Kuleba also expressed disappointment that many in the West do not understand the importance and consequences of war: "you can't win a war in which Russia clearly knows what its strategic goal is in every detail; (in which Ed.) Ukraine knows what its strategic goal is in every detail; but (in which-Ed.) The West, without which Ukraine cannot win, does not know what it is fighting for.
He also disagreed with the opinion of the former commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, who said that "the Third World War has begun." Kuleba said he disagreed "for one simple reason, because the West is psychologically unprepared for war.
"If you ask me what was the biggest mistake of the West over the past year, I would say that the frenzied public condemnation of European leaders of Emmanuel Macron's proposal to send troops to Ukraine. I have no doubt that Putin liked it," he added.
На рівні команд маємо взаємодію: Зеленський про перемогу Трампа06.11.24, 21:01