West holds back on aid to Ukraine over fears of escalation with Russia - Gen. Hodges
Photo: Retired General Ben Hodges (Illustrative photo by GettyImages)
The West is slowing down its support for Ukraine because of its fear of the possible consequences of crossing the imaginary red lines. But a show of determination could influence not only Moscow but also other countries seeking nuclear weapons, the former commander of the US Army in Europe retired General Ben Hodges told RBC-Ukraine.
Hodges believes that the reason for the lack of decisive action from Western partners in support of Ukraine is that such a policy reflects the inability of allied countries to clearly state their desire for Ukraine's victory over Russia.
According to him, these countries cannot define the strategic results they want to achieve in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
"Even though it is clearly in the strategic interest of the US and of Europe that Russia is defeated and forced back to the 1991 borders of Ukraine/Russia. This failure is a result of an excessive, unfounded fear of Russia escalating, of using a nuclear weapon somehow, if Ukraine crosses some imaginary red line using weapons provided by the West. The result is that we, the West, are self-deterring instead of acting decisively,” Hodges said.
The general adds that US deterrence from decisive action because of the threat of Russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons is a serious signal not only to Moscow but also to North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, China, and other countries that seek to develop nuclear weapons.
West and Moscow's 'red lines'
Western partners are partially restraining from helping Ukraine in its war for freedom against Russia. They do not allow long-range strikes with certain types of weapons supplied as military support, as they are afraid of crossing the “red lines” that Moscow uses to intimidate the West, implying a sharp escalation of the conflict.
As Angelica Evans, a Russia researcher at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), told RBC-Ukraine, the operation of the Defense Forces in the Kursk region demonstrated how empty Russia's “red lines” are.
