https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/c...aine-cwzqhl02j
Condoleezza Rice: Putin ‘must be stopped now’
Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, called for a dramatic increase in military assistance for Ukraine to push back President Putin’s troops and head off a direct confrontation between the US and Russia.
She argues in a joint appeal with Robert Gates, the defence secretary under Presidents Bush and Obama, that failure to ramp up help for Ukraine will embolden Putin to attack Nato allies.
They applauded the US and German decision last week to send Ukraine armoured fighting vehicles for the first time, but urged other Nato allies to do the same and to add longer-range missiles, advanced drones, significant ammunition stocks and more surveillance capability.
Without a significant military breakthrough, western pressure will grow to negotiate a ceasefire that would “leave Russian forces in a strong position to resume their invasion whenever they are ready”, they said. In a joint article for
The Washington Post, they added: “The only way to avoid such a scenario is for the United States and its allies to urgently provide Ukraine with a dramatic increase in military supplies and capability.
“The United States has learnt the hard way — in 1914, 1941 and 2001 — that unprovoked aggression and attacks on the rule of law and the international order cannot be ignored.” They concluded: “It is better to stop him now, before more is demanded of the United States and Nato.”