<\/p>\n
Ukraine could “rise like a phoenix from the ashes” and expel Russia from its land once and for all if it has the “right investment” from the West, a former jet pilot claims.<\/p>\n
The call to arms comes as Ukraine faces its gravest test yet on the battlefield.<\/p>\n
Morale is said to be sapping more than 650 days into the war as the counteroffensive fails to make significant gains.<\/p>\n
What’s more, Vladimir Putin is reportedly militarising the Russian economy, replenishing its army, and producing weapons at a faster rate than Ukraine.<\/p>\n
And the flow of arms to Ukraine from the West has gone from a river to a stream, and could soon become a trickle due to political infighting and convoluted decision-making on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, history offers some important lessons for the present – and it could even help shape the future, says former RAF Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell.<\/p>\n
He explained: “If you look through history, people have to fight their own way to democracy.<\/p>\n
“If you look forward 40-50 years, it’s quite possible that Ukraine will have a very powerful democracy because it’s paid a huge price.”<\/p>\n
Here, Bell draws a parallel to Germany at the end of World War II, when the “devastated” country rose to become the “powerhouse of Europe”.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
He added: “So it’s quite possible, with the right investment, that Ukraine will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.”<\/p>\n
But it depends on Western support – and there are concerning signs this could be waning.<\/p>\n
The United States and European Union are struggling to provide enough funds to keep Ukraine\u2019s war economy afloat.<\/p>\n
The money is being held up due to political infighting and convoluted decision-making.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And the prospect of another four years of Donald Trump as US president is making the Ukrainian elite and its European backers jittery.<\/p>\n
Trump claims that even before he’s inaugurated, he will have settled the war between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n
That includes, he says, ending the “endless flow of American treasure to Ukraine” and asking European allies to reimburse the US for the cost of rebuilding stockpiles.<\/p>\n
It’s unclear whether he would insist that Russia withdraw from territory in Ukraine it seized in the war that it launched in February 2022.<\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"