[Goose]

For a long time, all the press reports sounded negative. Now I’m seeing more stuff like this. Is it real or wishful thinking?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/world...ky-uk.html

It is "real" as far as it goes. The problem with the "Coalition of the willing" is that in most cases they are not part of the "Coalition of the able". Few realize how greatly the massive quantity of material sent by the US has affected Ukraine's ability to fight this war. Under the previous administration every so often the US would authorize another tranche of material to be sent to Ukraine. These shipments contained many single-source weapons (like Patriot missiles and AMRAAM missiles) as well as massive quantities of  other arms and support items (like radios etc.). Europe simply does not have the ability to fill that gap. They have neither the stockpiles nor the manufacturing capacity to do so in the short term. They will do their best, but it won't be enough to offset the loss of material from the US. It is critical the US continue the level of support for Ukraine we provided previously. While the current administration is allowing the purchase of arms for use in Ukraine, it isn't donating any. It isn't unilaterally shipping many tons of "stuff" to Ukraine as a matter of course. This approach is clearly inadequate in the long term. Of course, the current administration is operating under the assumption that a cease fire is "imminent" and so the long term is not an issue.

Politically and economically the  Coalition of the Willing has done a lot with sanctions and monetary support for Ukraine. Their current attempt to use frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine is one example. It is probable that the recent US sanctions on Russia and the lifting of the range limit on Storm Shadow missiles by the US was orchestrated by this group. This group was also key in previously preventing the current administration from throwing Ukraine under the bus in order to obtain a cease fire. Hopefully that can continue, but IMO that is far from a sure thing.

[Goose]

For a long time, all the press reports sounded negative. Now I’m seeing more stuff like this. Is it real or wishful thinking?

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/world...ky-uk.html

It is "real" as far as it goes. The problem with the "Coalition of the willing" is that in most cases they are not part of the "Coalition of the able". Few realize how greatly the massive quantity of material sent by the US has affected Ukraine's ability to fight this war. Under the previous administration every so often the US would authorize another tranche of material to be sent to Ukraine. These shipments contained many single-source weapons (like Patriot missiles and AMRAAM missiles) as well as massive quantities of  other arms and support items (like radios etc.). Europe simply does not have the ability to fill that gap. They have neither the stockpiles nor the manufacturing capacity to do so in the short term. They will do their best, but it won't be enough to offset the loss of material from the US. It is critical the US continue the level of support for Ukraine we provided previously. While the current administration is allowing the purchase of arms for use in Ukraine, it isn't donating any. It isn't unilaterally shipping many tons of "stuff" to Ukraine as a matter of course. This approach is clearly inadequate in the long term. Of course, the current administration is operating under the assumption that a cease fire is "imminent" and so the long term is not an issue.

Politically and economically the  Coalition of the Willing has done a lot with sanctions and monetary support for Ukraine. Their current attempt to use frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine is one example. It is probable that the recent US sanctions on Russia and the lifting of the range limit on Storm Shadow missiles by the US was orchestrated by this group. This group was also key in previously preventing the current administration from throwing Ukraine under the bus in order to obtain a cease fire. Hopefully that can continue, but IMO that is far from a sure thing.