Austrian expert slams U.S. for “boiling frog” strategy, limiting aid to Ukraine

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Markus Reisner, Austrian Army Colonel, superintendent at the Officer Training Institute, Theresian Military Academy.

"The main problem that Ukraine faced here is that although it gets high-quality and high-precision weapon systems from the West, it cannot use them to the extent and on a scale that would allow them to exert a significant influence on the Russian side. And on my opinion, the point here is that the U.S. is not really interested in destroying Russia or forcing them to capitulate. They want to put them in their place. This is often repeated in the United States, too: it’s not ‘destroying Russia’ but ‘deterring Russia,’” he said.

According to Reisner, this is manifested in many examples, including in the number of weapon systems delivered: "Recall the HIMARS systems, which have proven greatly effective. Ukraine wanted to get 300 units, but so far they have received a little below 48. Remember the delay in the delivery of F-16s, the restrictions on the use of ATACMS…"

In addition, the expert pointed out that the U.S. "has made it clear that attacks on oil refineries are not entirely a positive thing as they could lead to a shortage of resources on global markets and so on, and so forth."

"I mean, no matter how tragic it is, we have to state that what I refer to as ‘boiling the frog’ is always manifested this way," Reisner said.

Against this background, the Austrian colonel also noted that certain weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine "stand out because they had yielded the desired effect at the right time". These include HIMARS systems, cluster munitions, and ATACMS. However, it is important to understand that in the conditions of an ongoing war of attrition, if decisions are not made quickly, "the enemy is always able to adapt to new circumstances." The Austrian military expert notes Russia’s ability to adapt to some extent to the use of both HIMARS, cluster munitions, and ATACMS.

"In other words, a massive use is required. And this means that in a short period of time, for 14 days, almost every day, powerful blows should be delivered in order to hit the enemy hard and force them to retreat. And here Ukraine faces two challenges. The first is the availability and the amount of these capabilities. And the second one is the restrictions imposed by allies, in this particular case, the United States, which have a significant impact on battlefield developments," Reisner said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States to lift restrictions on strikes on military targets inside Russia, including airfields.