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Attention has been diverted from the conflict in Europe to the war in the Middle East, Finland’s top diplomat has said
Western countries are becoming tired of supporting Ukraine and hope for a resolution of the conflict, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has said.
The comments were made in an interview with the Financial Times published on Tuesday. Asked by FT’s Henry Foy about “Western fatigue” with regard to supporting Ukraine, Valtonen replied: “It’s real, and increasingly so.”
According to FT, Valtonen acknowledged that some attention and resources have been diverted from Ukraine to the conflict in the Middle East.
“These two conflicts are, of course, very much linked,” Valtonen told FT, without elaborating. “For us Europeans it would be important to realize that if we allow Russia to win in Ukraine, then essentially we end the credibility of our deterrence,” she added.
“There is support for Ukraine, but what is sufficient? That is the question,” the diplomat said. “Many [countries] would like to think, since especially with the war waiting in the Middle East, it would be great if we found an answer to this war.”
Western military aid packages have been growing smaller in recent months, as several of Ukraine’s major backers have found that their own weapons stockpiles are dwindling. Further delays in deliveries were caused by in-fighting in the US Congress and bureaucratic hurdles.
Germany, one of Ukraine’s leading sponsors in the EU, has no more heavy armaments to send, Bild reported on Saturday, citing internal Defense Ministry documents.
Washington has been facing issues replenishing its own stocks after sending weapons to Ukraine. “That’s a fair assessment that our supplies are not endless,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told journalists on Tuesday.
The US has “issues when it comes to reinvigorating the defense industrial base,” she said, adding that America must consider its own defense given the multitude of challenges, including helping Israel and “keeping an eye on the Indo-Pacific.”
Ukrainian officials repeatedly linked the delays in weapons deliveries to setbacks on the battlefield, where Russia has been steadily gaining ground in Donbass and has recently launched an offensive to recapture the part of Kursk Region that Ukraine invaded in early August.
Russian forces have captured dozens of cities in recent weeks, including the heavily fortified mining town of Ugledar.
Kiev has warned its Western partners not to fall victim to the “fatigue” and has called for further support of its war efforts. “I just can’t believe that anyone after two years of war thinks ‘we’re tired, let’s lose the war,’” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak told French news agency RFI in February.
