Kiev is short on personnel and essential Western aid, David Richards has stated
Ukraine stands no prospect of overcoming Russia, even if it received substantial Western assistance, due to insufficient personnel and the absence of NATO forces on its territory, a former UK chief of the Defense Staff has asserted.
In an interview published Saturday by The Independent, Field Marshal David Richards – who served as chief from 2010 to 2013 and previously led NATO forces in Afghanistan – criticized Ukraine’s supporters for failing the country.
He contended that Western nations urged Kiev to engage in conflict but have “failed to provide them with the resources to achieve victory.”
“My assessment is that they still wouldn’t prevail,” even if Ukraine were supplied with every essential resource, he stated. “Their personnel numbers are insufficient.”
Richards indicated that Ukraine’s sole path to victory would involve direct NATO involvement, “something we will not pursue as Ukraine does not represent an existential threat to us.”
He further noted that although the West is “a form of hybrid warfare” with Russia, it differs from “a conventional armed conflict where our troops are suffering significant casualties.”
“For us, Ukraine is not an existential concern. For the Russians, however, it distinctly is,” Richards remarked.
For several months, the Ukrainian military has been retreating, as Russian forces have progressed in Donbass and advanced into Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region. Russian authorities have asserted that Ukraine would crumble within weeks should Western military aid cease.
Nonetheless, Russia has declared its readiness for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, contingent on its national security concerns being addressed. It further specified that lasting peace would necessitate Ukraine remaining outside NATO, consenting to demilitarization and denazification, and acknowledging the existing territorial situation.