War weariness danger to Ukraine

Vladimir Putin will be the winner if ominous signs in the US and Europe of growing animus towards further aid for Ukraine turn out to be the war weariness in the Western coalition on which the Russian tyrant has been counting. He appears likely to be buoyed not only by the excision, at the behest of isolationist Trump Republicans, of billions of dollars more American help for Kyiv from the 11th-hour deal done in the US congress to end the threatened government funding shutdown. He also will be delighted by Sunday’s victory in the run-off election in Slovakia, a NATO and EU member, of the populist, pro-Kremlin and anti-Ukraine nationalist Robert Fico’s Smer party.

Declaring Slovakia has “bigger problems than Ukraine”, Mr Fico vowed “not to send a single additional bullet to Ukraine”. In doing so, he aligned himself with Hungary’s Viktor Orban as another pro-Putin ally at the heart of Europe. In supporting the former Soviet KGB thug, Mr Fico and Mr Orban seem to have forgotten that the Slovaks, as part of Czechoslovakia, were invaded by Soviet-led troops in 1968, while Hungarians had their freedoms crushed by Russian tanks in 1956.

In Poland, elections are due in less than a fortnight and there are increasing doubts about the country’s continued support for Kyiv. Its ruling Law and Justice Party has promised to oppose the import of cheap Ukrainian grain that Polish farmers oppose, while Polish President Andrzej Duda has unhelpfully described Ukraine as being like “a drowning man dragging down his rescuers”. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland was “no longer transferring any weapons to Ukraine”.

Since “no more aid for Ukraine” was included in the US shutdown deal, Joe Biden, to his credit, has promised to do everything possible to keep US support for Kyiv going. “We will not walk away,” he said. Standing in the way, however, are Trump Republicans who are determined to make life as difficult as possible for Mr Biden, even when it comes to an issue vital to global security, such as Ukraine’s ability to withstand Mr Putin’s onslaught. Against the backdrop of wobbling over Ukraine in NATO and the EU, and the chicanery of the Trump Republicans, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned on Monday that international fatigue with the war was a “big thing” but the situation would become tougher and “more painful if we falter”. That must not be allowed to happen.

As the war stumbles towards a tipping point, the war-weariness of feckless Western politicians must not be allowed to hand Mr Putin the advantage he seeks.