Ukraine's defeat will cost the West $3 trillion, UK warns

Former UK Defence Minister James Heappey warned that Ukraine's defeat by Russia would cost the West $3 trillion in a new Cold War.

As reported by The Telegraph, in his article for The House Magazine, Heappey noted that Ukraine needs more aid packages, similar to those announced last week, to win the battle for "security across the whole European-Atlantic region."

"A stalemate or, heaven forbid, a Ukrainian defeat promises a new cold war that will last for decades and cost trillions of dollars more," he emphasised.

The former Defence Minister pointed out that recent aid packages from the US and the UK will not immediately tip the scales in favour of allowing Ukraine to launch an offensive that will bring "a quick and complete victory."

"My expectation is that with this huge inflow of Western support, we’ll see the frontlines stabilise and, while the fighting will be fierce, I don’t expect to see significant amounts of territory traded this year," Heappey believes.

He said that Ukrainian brigades need to be trained so that their actions are coordinated with artillery, air support, and "everything else that can be thrown at the Russians."

At the same time, he expressed doubt that Ukrainian forces would be ready to defeat the Russians by 2025 or even by 2026.

Earlier, Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the UK, informed Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that the new UK aid package for Ukraine will include millions of ammunition shells, hundreds of vehicles and long-range Storm Shadow missiles.

Following the 21st meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the US would allocate US$6 billion for military aid for Ukraine within the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) mechanism.

Under the USAI programme, the US government will sign contracts with American defence companies for the production of new armament for Ukraine instead of supplying it with weapons from its storages.

This was made possible after the US President Joe Biden signed legislation enacted by Congress that will provide about US$61 billion in additional military and economic aid to Ukraine, as well as help to other US allies, on 24 April.