BERLIN, August 23. /TASS/. The Western countries have a one-dimensional hyper-fixation on arms deliveries within the framework of political discussions around Ukraine, while they should be searching for compromise solutions to end the conflict, Ruediger Luedeking, Germany’s former permanent representative to the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said in an op-ed for German publication Cicero.
According to the former diplomat, with regards to the Ukrainian conflict, "the West's obsession with arms supplies is erroneous." The questionable nature of the much-touted new deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev, he believes, is readily visible in the fact that the supply of Western tanks to Ukraine earlier this year "has not lead to any fundamental changes on the battlefield (in Ukraine's favor - TASS), contrary to forecasts by supporters" of such deliveries. Also, the West tends to downplay the risk that the conflict could morph into a nuclear war, which, Luedeking warns, is "extremely irresponsible" because of the apocalyptic consequences that could ensue. The Western countries should "be cautious in making decisions in favor of more arms supplies," the expert said.
"The main drawback of the Western policy is that the demand for Ukraine's military victory is put forward as a precondition for finding a diplomatic solution to the problem," Luedeking notes. Western politicians "arrogantly reject" compromise solutions on Ukraine, including those proposed by China or other countries in the Global South because of Russia's alleged "unwillingness to negotiate," he writes. In this context, he called on the leaders of the Western world to "actively explore options to end the conflict" in order to "stop the heavy loss of life on both sides and prevent further escalation."
Reuters reported on August 18, citing a source, that the United States had allowed Denmark and the Netherlands to transfer US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when the training of Ukrainian pilots was completed. According to the source, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already sent letters to his counterparts in Denmark and the Netherlands with assurances that Washington supported this decision. No exact dates were mentioned, though.
On August 20, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced what he described as a "breakthrough agreement" with Amsterdam on the issue of supplying 42 F-16 fighter jets to Kiev. Denmark also said it was ready to transfer 19 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. The first six planes are due to arrive by the end of this year. The Danish air force has about 30 fighter jets that will be decommissioned when the country replaces them with advanced F-35s. The Dutch air force has 42 such planes.
Russia has repeatedly emphasized that the West's arms supplies to Kiev and assistance in training the Ukrainian military merely serve to prolong the conflict and will by no means change the situation on the ground.