Will international support for Ukraine last?

The Inquiry

BBC

News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since the start of the war, Ukraine has received more than €115 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid from countries around the world. Now that the pendulum has swung, and the battlefield momentum is with Ukrainian forces, international allies have agreed to ramp up that support, with the US, UK and other major and minor military powers combining to pledge billions in weapons, ammunition and even modern tanks. But can that support go on indefinitely? As some countries run low on weapons stocks, will they cut off support to Ukraine rather than leave their borders vulnerable to potential attack? And will other factors such as rising energy costs, a looming global recession and the upcoming US presidential election determine to what extent - and for how long - international allies can fund Ukraine’s war effort?

Image: Ukrainian soldiers practice with a mortar on the Donbass frontline on 19 January, 2023 (Credit: Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Love Genessa, a brand new true crime podcast from the BBC World Service and CBC podcasts.
0:07.0	It's a story about love, deceit and survival, and it's available now.
0:12.0	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:18.0	Welcome to the inquiry with me, Tanya Beckett.
0:21.0	One question for expert witnesses and an answer.
0:30.0	It was the fulfilment of what Ukraine's president had been calling for since almost the start of Russia's invasion.
0:42.0	Ukrainian forces had pushed back Russia's military from the capital Kiev in March of last year.
0:49.0	Then their missile attacks were able to reach behind the front line in the east of the country and destroy key targets.
0:58.0	But in order to regain territory they'd lost since the start of the war, Ukraine's army wanted vehicles that could keep their soldiers safe as they forced their way through enemy lines.
1:11.0	After all, they were fast running out of their own armored vehicles and any that could be supplied by their neighbours and allies in the east.
1:19.0	What they needed now was western-style tanks.
1:23.0	In January when the war had raged for almost a whole year, Kiev's persistent requests were finally answered.
1:35.0	America, Britain and Germany all pledged challenger tanks.
1:42.0	Then Germany granted permission to its NATO allies to hand over their German-made leopard tanks.
1:51.0	It was the latest perhaps most significant sign of support from the west for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
2:01.0	This week on the inquiry we're asking, how long will international support for Ukraine last?
2:10.0	Part one. Weapons from the west.
2:18.0	There's two reasons why Ukraine is winning this conflict. One is because they are fighting brilliantly and hard and the other is western-weapon-rain intelligence.
2:26.0	Our first expert witness is Mike Martin, senior fellow of war studies at King's College in London and author of How to Fight a War.
2:36.0	Ukraine's western allies supply military equipment to Kiev at a rate of approximately $2 billion a month to help fight its war with Russia.
2:45.0	But the exact nature of the weaponry that's handed over is the subject of an ongoing negotiation.
2:52.0	The west is not donating the military equipment in a vacuum. There is a constant conversation between the Ukrainian military and the western donor nations.
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