The Inquirer quotes Eurasia Center Director John Herbst on the crisis in Ukraine:
But withholding defensive weapons has not kept Moscow from sending hundreds of artillery pieces, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and missiles to Ukraine. “We’ve had a policy of not providing arms to Ukraine and we’ve seen Putin escalate a half-dozen times,” says former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. Contrary to the arguments against defensive weapons, he says, “The absence of Western support has led to escalation.”
In other words, not bolstering Ukraine’s defenses encourages Putin to seek the seizure of more Ukrainian land.
Herbst and several other top U.S. diplomats and military officers, including former Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Adm. James Stavridis will release a report next week outlining what kinds of military aid they believe the United States and NATO should be providing to Ukraine. They want Washington to enhance Ukraine’s weak defensive capacity against Russian long-range rockets with counter-battery radar and communication equipment, along with sending missiles to defend against Russian armored vehicles and tanks.