The idea of direct Western participation in the conflict is reportedly back on the table, according to the newspaper
The UK and France have “reactivated” talks on sending troops to Ukraine, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Monday. The idea has already caused a rift among European NATO members.
Back in February, French President Emmanuel Macron caused controversy by declaring his willingness to send ground troops to Ukraine “to prevent Russia from winning this war.” The statement was quickly disavowed by NATO officials, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Ukraine’s Western backers were “unanimous” in their opposition to the idea.
The plan was seemingly shelved, Le Monde has reported, until British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Paris earlier this month. Citing anonymous sources, the French newspaper claimed that talks on a possible Franco-British deployment to Ukraine were “reactivated” by Starmer and Macron.
No further information was provided, and Le Monde speculated that this deployment could range from both nations sending private-sector technicians to repair military equipment (as Britain already does), to private military contractors (as Russia insists that France does), to flag-wearing personnel on the ground, either on the front line or to enforce an eventual ceasefire and peace deal.
I’ve heard talk of ramping up weapons production, but can the gutted neoliberal west actually pull off anything significant?
Possibly? There’s plenty of barriers, but there’s enough risk that Russia has to consider it in their strategic analysis
No. I have seen estimates that it would take at least 10 years of concerted effort to ramp up US production to that scale.
China is gonna start banning the export of a lot of materials used for weapons production (materials which they have almost a total monopoly on) starting in December. So if westerners aren’t careful they might run out of conventional weapons and then they’re really gonna see what the world thinks of them.