The international community has sufficient resources to compel Russia to cease its war against Ukraine. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha emphasized the need to change the approach to supporting Kyiv — from the formula of “as much as needed” to “as strongly as possible.”
This is reported by Kyiv24
The Necessity of Decisive Support for Ukraine
In his address on social media platform X on November 16, Sybiha highlighted that two objectives are crucial at this stage of the war: abandoning illusions and depriving the enemy of illusions. He explained that Putin will be forced to stop the war only when he realizes the impossibility of victory on the battlefield and when the cost of continuing the war for his regime becomes too high.
“At this stage of the war, two objectives are crucial. First, to abandon our own illusions. Second, to deprive the enemy of illusions. Putin will be forced to stop this war when two factors are present: he will have no illusions that he can somehow ultimately win on the battlefield; the cost of continuing the war for him and his regime will exceed the cost of stopping it,” Sybiha wrote on social media platform X on November 16.
The Arms Race and the Role of Drones in Modern Warfare
According to the Foreign Minister, the current arms race is not about creating nuclear weapons, but about producing a large number of cheap drones. Sybiha pointed out that the one who can ramp up drone production faster will prevail, allowing for peace. For this, swift and adequate funding for Ukraine’s defense industry is necessary, which has already become one of the leading sources of defense innovations in the world. Ukraine is capable of producing up to 20 million drones next year, provided there is proper funding. The Minister emphasized that there is a race against time in both resources and technologies, and Ukraine must achieve parity and advantage to compel Putin to stop his aggression.
Western partners, including EU countries, have repeatedly declared support for Ukraine “as long as needed.” However, President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted in September the insufficient capabilities of the European defense industry and the need for its expansion.
In October, American diplomat Matthew Whitaker at NATO also noted that the production capacities of the European defense industry do not meet modern challenges. He pointed out that the speed at which the European defense industry is developing does not correspond to the commitments made regarding additional funding of hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Whitaker added that while the U.S. also faces certain challenges, it is capable of supplying Ukraine with the necessary weapons and ammunition for active combat operations.
In November, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that alliance countries have outpaced Russia in ammunition production rates for the first time in many years. He noted that the threat from Russia will not disappear even after the conclusion of its war against Ukraine.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are actively developing the production of interceptor drones, which operate in various areas of the front and in the rear. President Zelensky announced in September that Ukraine plans to ramp up production to 500–800 interceptor drones daily by November.