Ischinger calls for increasing Ukraine aid

On the eve of the 60th Munich Security Conference, its former chairman Wolfgang Ischinger posted the three observations and five proposals in an oped penned for Handelsblatt, Ukrinform reports.

The first observation is that Vladimir Putin has failed to achieve his original war goal. Instead, he achieved the opposite, pushing traditionally neutral European states, Sweden and Finland, to join NATO, while all Western nations have increased their defense budgets.

The second observation is that the Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023 fizzled out, the war moved into the trenches, and Western sanction policies did not weaken the Russian industry and economic capacity as much as some expected. Also, uncertainty caused by the upcoming presidential election in the U.S. is worsening.

Ischinger says the worst scenario in such circumstances is starting negotiations on ceasefire or even peace, if it comes to this.

"And of course, such possible future negotiations must not simply tie in with the failed Minsk process: Ukraine needs firm guarantees in the future, preferably through NATO membership," emphasizes the German diplomat.

One can expect from Moscow true readiness for talks only when the Kremlin realizes that the further use of Russian military force will no longer bring any discernible advantages.

Unfortunately, the Kremlin is further away from this insight than at any time in the laast 24 months, Ischinger believes.

The diplomat also put forward five suggestions.

In 2024, the West should provide Ukraine with even more military support than it has done so far.

The West should move from passive-reactive to proactive approach and draw some red lines: another shelling of civilian targets in Ukraine and the latter will receive more powerful systems such as Taurus missiles.

“The European Union must finally say goodbye to the small-state armaments policy of the 19th century. This is not at all about the much-vaunted vision of an EU army, but about practical issues," Ischinger stressed.

He recalled that the economic capacity of the Western coalition exceeds Russia’s by more than 20 times. But Russia has long switched to a war economy, while many in the West are yet to grasp the scale of the problem and seek to continue doing business as usual.

“Yet the whole of Europe is under existential threat, by no means only Ukraine, and perhaps for decades. Just recently, Putin has again taken the Baltic states into his crosshairs. He must learn to understand that we can and will arm him to death if necessary, and that he cannot and will not win this war,” Ischinger warned.

The diplomat considers it’s high time for confidential European talks with Paris, perhaps with London on how to strengthen the nuclear deterrence for the European continent in close coordination with the United States. At the same time, Ischinger denied the need for deploying nuclear arms of Germany, although prompted Berlin to "take the initiative again" and "give impetus to Europe."

He suggests that at the Munich Conference there will be a great opportunity to demonstrate European and Transatlantic determination: “Ukraine must not and will not lose, but must continue to assert itself successfully: it belongs to Europe and must be allowed to be a free country. And Europe must prove its will to assert itself, Donald Trump or not.”

As reported earlier, this year’s Munich Security Conference will be held on February 16-18.