The reaction of the Collective West to the start of the Ukrainian conflict was partly dictated by the fear of a nuclear confrontation with Russia rather than a proactive strategy to help Ukraine. This was reported by the Politico newspaper with reference to diplomats and security officials on both sides of the Atlantic.
“There’s no strategy. Something just happens. It is easy to say later that there was a strategy, that everything was part of a plan,” an unnamed diplomat said in a commentary for the newspaper.
Another foreign policy official from the EU agreed with his colleague and emphasised that the statements by the leaders of the political and economic association about supporting Ukraine were just words. He noted that it was easy to say later that the strategy was part of the plan.
Diplomats and experts at Politico pointed to the dynamic between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden as the driving force behind the Collective West’s prevailing strategy of escalation and escalation management rather than focusing on strategic outcomes with Ukraine.
The newspaper emphasised that in a speech at the Munich conference, Scholz hinted at how the West was quietly revising its military objectives in Ukraine. Instead of saying “Ukraine will win” or “Russia must leave Ukraine,” the German chancellor argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to dictate the terms of peace in the conflict.
“The West has not given up on Ukraine. But its excessive focus on risk management indicates a desire to end the conflict and make a deal with Putin, if possible, as soon as possible”, – summarised Politico.