On Jan. 19, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, spoke before Ukrainian Parliament. This historic speech was remembered for the words, “There can be no independent and safe Europe without an independent and safe Ukraine.” He also recounted the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion last year and President Volodymyr Zelensy’s words to him during a phone call:
“‘Charles, we need weapons, we need ammunition,’” said Michel. “Three days later, we formally decided to provide lethal equipment to a third country for the first time in the history of the [European Union.] In the meantime, weapons and ammunition had already started reaching Ukraine.”
Indeed, for the European bureaucratic machine, three days is the speed of a comet. But upon hearing Michel’s words, my colleague in the Parliament sitting next to me said: “And I remember those three days. My family and I sat in the bomb shelter and were afraid to think about tomorrow.”
This illustration shows how time is perceived differently when there is no air raid alarm wailing overhead, no rocket whistling and you are safe. Because when we Ukrainians hear how a particular international institution is going to make a life-giving decision for us in a few days, weeks, or months, we involuntarily ask ourselves: “Will I live to see that day? What if a Russian missile or an Iranian drone hits my house? Where will my family be? And will my relatives and friends at the front near Bakhmut have time to get those weapons and ammunition?”
A week is long, a month is an eternity.
We are already used to the fact that months or even half a year can pass between the political decision of our partners to provide us with weapons and the moment when a Ukrainian soldier will hold them in his hands. No matter how Ukraine works on logistics, no matter how quickly our soldiers master it. The timeline of this war is merciless because its every mark is thousands of Ukrainian lives.
On Dec. 15 in an interview with The Economist, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny said that he needs 300 tanks, about 700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers to at least reach the borders by Feb. 23. On Jan. 24, Germany agrees to provide Leopard 2 tanks and to allow other countries to supply this tank to Ukraine. In general, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, the armed forces will receive 120 to 140 tanks from partners. Staff training will last 10 weeks, although the program can be twice as fast. At the same time, intelligence (both Ukrainian and our partners) reports that Russia is preparing a new large-scale offensive in February. Who will have time to prepare for it faster and better? The question is still unanswered.
It can take half a year or more to obtain some types of weapons. And what is half a year in the war? Is this, for example, the time that passed from the Russian occupation of Kyiv Oblast to the first counteroffensive of the Defense Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast. Or is it the time when millions of Ukrainian women and children went abroad, settled there, then returned home at the end of the summer, but were forced to leave again because in October Russia launched massive missile strikes, and now not a single city, even a few hundred kilometers from the front line, is not safe?
The world cannot dispose of time as if there were plenty of it. Time is now the most expensive currency because it is not about money, but about life. And when world leaders say that Ukrainians are dying in Bakhmut and at the same time delay the supply of weapons, this means only one thing: There will be even more deaths.
At an online meeting in Washington, former prime minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson remarked: “What is the point of having Challenger tanks patrolling the beautiful villages of Wiltshire, which is a very safe area I can tell you, when the Ukrainians could be using them now to bring this war to an end?”
It’s a logical question. Doesn’t the world understand that Vladimir Putin is dangerous? It does. Does it not realize that it is possible to oppose this danger only with a united front? It does. Doesn’t the world know that in the end, allies will have to unite all of their efforts — much like during the Second World War — take out weapons and ammunition from warehouses and strike with a single fist, pushing back so this never happens again? It does. So why the delay?
When you’re in pain, every minute seems like forever. Ukraine has been hurting for a very long time. For our soldiers at the front, each new day is priceless, because the next one may not come. We appeal to our partners: Give everyone who fights and can win a chance to do so and survive.
Procedures, discussions and meetings are important in peacetime. In war, they become an obstacle. Accordingly, by reducing them, you will be remembered in history for saving lives. Ukraine is not Russia, for us every life is valuable, and we are doing everything possible to preserve them. We need help.
When Michel said that there would be no free Europe without a free Ukraine, he was 1,000 times right. But to keep a shield over Europe, Ukrainians need weapons, equipment and ammunition. Arm us immediately so that it is not too late for Europe as well.
Kira Rudik is a member of Parliament in Ukraine and the leader of Golos party.