Some may wonder why a conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine is being held in Berlin when all reconstruction efforts are being destroyed by Russian attacks.
But the Ukrainian government cannot wait until after the war. Around 50 percent of the electricity supply has been destroyed by Moscow in recent months. Anyone who wants to prevent millions more Ukrainians from fleeing to Europe before the coming winter must help to rebuild as much of the destroyed capacity as possible – and then protect it better.
That is why it is important that Berlin has now promised to deliver additional weapons systems, even if this is far from enough. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj pointed out in Berlin how important it is to break the Russians’ air superiority. But this will not work with defense systems alone. To do this, Ukraine must also be enabled to attack Russian capabilities across the border.
The end of the operational restrictions is a first step towards this. But these are still absurdly restrictive – for example with regard to the American ATACMS missiles – and are only limited to the immediate border area. This means that Ukraine is only allowed to attack around 16 percent of the area in Russia that would actually be within range of the ATACMS.
Ukraine therefore needs more extensive systems such as the German Taurus and permission to use them to hit the sources of Russian destructive power. This would be far more effective and sustainable in ensuring the country’s reconstruction.
“It is in our common interest that Putin personally loses this war,” said Volodymyr Selenskyj before the Bundestag plenary session – which AfD and BSW representatives scandalously stayed away from. The Ukrainian president is undoubtedly right in this. But the West must also give him the means to achieve this.