It is now a war of position between Russia and Ukraine. Crosetto’s speech in Parliament

11 January 20244 months ago babelfish

What the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, said during communications in Parliament. Here is the full text

Thank you, Mr President. Honorable deputies, today is an opportunity to provide a situation on the conflict in Ukraine, on what Italy has done, is doing and will do in support of the Ukrainian Government, with particular reference to the extension to 31 December 2024 of the authorization for the supply of aid, including military aid, to Kiev. Unfortunately, Ukraine's summer counteroffensive did not give the desired results and the Kiev Army is now facing a new winter of war, having, in turn, to cope with the predictable, violent Russian reaction, mostly based on the launch of missiles and drones from the east of the country. Also thanks to the promise of Ukraine's future entry into Europe, which we hope for, and the electoral appointments already scheduled in the European Union, the United States and also in Russia, 2024 will be a crucial year in the conflict that began on 24 February 2022.

Italy, implementing all the Parliament's resolutions on the matter, supports from the beginning and with determination every action to encourage the opening of a diplomatic confrontation and arrive at a negotiated solution as soon as possible which is not separated from a just peace and without this is mistakenly interpreted as a desire to disengage from our support – and that of the international community – alongside Ukraine, a desire that remains strong and totally unchanged.

The gravity of the situation and the threat it poses to global European order and stability, in fact, confirm how important it is to continue to support the effort of the Ukrainian people and Armed Forces so that they are able to resist Russian aggression. In this context, last December 19, the Council of Ministers deemed it necessary to extend the authorization to provide concrete help with means, materials and military and civilian equipment to the Government of Ukraine.

After almost two years, the conflict presents the characteristics of a traditional war of position, also considering the fact that the efforts made so far have exhausted the resources necessary to fuel further offensive thrusts. The winter season tends to crystallize the situation on the ground and it is foreseeable that the Russian reaction will be particularly harsh and will resort to massive attacks, with missiles and drones, against the most critical civil and military infrastructures. The aim is to weaken the morale of the Ukrainian population, weakening their will to fight, creating an internal fracture and weakening their morale. The Ukrainian counteroffensive had a generous but irregular trend, failing to liberate significant areas from Russian occupation and failing to achieve the final objective that Kiev had set itself, that is, reaching the Sea of Azov and interrupting the territorial continuity between Crimea and Donbass . By explicit admission of the Ukrainian authorities, the counterattack, which developed mainly south of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, has, in fact, made it possible to recover a few tens of square kilometers of land from Russian occupation. The main difficulties encountered are attributable to the presence of vast minefields – Ukrainian intelligence estimates the number of mines used by the Russians to protect their positions at over 8 million – and to the numerical and air superiority of Moscow's forces. President Zelensky himself has declared the need for the Ukrainian Army to mobilize another 450,000-500,000 troops and, above all, for constant and significant Western support for Kiev to be guaranteed in terms of armaments and training. Russia, although it has failed to meet its objectives, does not seem to show any signs of slowing down. Putin has buffered the difficulties by stabilizing the internal and external front to the point of reversing some pre-existing dynamics. If you remember, I said, some time ago, that Putin's main strength was the fact that for him time and deaths did not matter, so much so that the time factor, which some thought worked in Kiev's favor, now seems more favorable to Moscow. Unfortunately, even in this field we can see the difference between an autocracy, Russia, and a democracy, Ukraine. Furthermore, Moscow has been able to support its war effort by circumventing Western sanctions, intensifying trade with North Korea, Iran, China and other partners in the Global South, increasing public spending and with a particularly resilient private sector. .

Russia seems to essentially intend to aim for a conflict of attrition, over time, over the long term, in the belief that, in the long term, Western public opinions will get tired and there will be defections among the ranks of Kiev's supporting countries. In this sense, the influence that the upcoming elections could generate in the USA, in Europe and the related political campaigns is inevitable. Isolationist tendencies of disengagement from Ukraine's support could, sooner or later, manifest themselves among the American electorate, in particular, but they are also present at the European level, as you well know.

The one just described is the scenario that today characterizes the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and which requires us, Italy, to make a choice of coherence, support and therefore the extension of aid to Ukraine, in line with the international commitments we have made recruited within NATO and within the European Union. Defense's commitment has been prompt and concrete since the very first days of the conflict and we have joined Ukraine's initiatives and support within NATO, in the context of allied initiatives aimed at strengthening the deterrence and defense posture on the Eastern flank, with participation in air, naval and land assets in Latvia, Hungary and Bulgaria, as well as with the sending of a SAMP/T air and missile defense battery to Slovakia and a naval unit, equally equipped with air defense capabilities, in Baltic Sea. Within the European Union, with the organization of numerous education and training courses for Ukrainian troops, within the EUMAM mission, of which in 2023 we satisfied all the training requests received. On a multilateral basis, with participation in the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, within which the so-called capacity coalitions are now being created to support the evolution of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to Western standards and in the name of interoperability with the countries of NATO. Capability coalitions mark another quantum leap in how we support Ukraine. The idea is to aggregate groups of nations led by one or more leaders who agree with Kiev on the development of specific sectors of the Armed Forces, through a multi-year approach that includes the material, organisational, training and doctrinal aspects and guarantees financial support to businesses. In this regard, the developments of the coalitions' work line will have implications in various fields and will be the main driver of the development of Ukrainian national defense within the framework of NATO and the European Union. In this context, Italy has expressed interest in the demining coalition promoted by Lithuania in the sector of territorial demining and the reconstruction of engineering units responsible for clearing minefields. If you think about the figure I told you before, over 8 million mines, you think about how much impact there will be in the coming years just to free the territory from the mines that have been scattered. The information technology coalition, led by Estonia and Luxembourg, for the creation of a communication infrastructure with the ability to defend against cyber attacks, the maritime coalition led by Great Britain and Norway, for the reconstruction of a Ukrainian navy. It appears important to identify means, materials and weapons systems of national production available in the immediate and short term, which may be relevant within the coalition for the development of the Ukrainian Forces, for which there is adequate production capacity, without being to the detriment of the acquisition programs of the Italian Defense. At the same time, the financing mechanisms for these initiatives will have to be carefully evaluated which, net of the possible partial compensation obtainable through European funds, cannot fall within the ordinary allocations intended for Italian Defence.

At present, we plan to supply weapon systems already in our possession, in line with the current regulatory framework. In the future, we cannot exclude the need to play a more effective national role within these coalitions, creating, where there is political will, ad hoc regulatory instruments. In this case, the measures aimed at ensuring that the activities carried out fall within an adequate authorization perimeter will be adopted.

I would like to focus on the national contribution in terms of delivery of military aid. After 7 military aid packages already formalized since the beginning of the conflict, we have recently given the green light to send an eighth tranche of equipment, materials, means and systems to Kiev, based on the needs represented by the Ukrainian authorities to facing the conflict. Furthermore, I have already explained this new decree in detail to the Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic, last December 19th. As you well know, in fact, this Government felt it necessary to continue in the wake of the previous Executive, placing the aid sent to Kiev under secrecy, but I can confirm that this eighth military aid package also consists of equipment and weapons systems aimed at strengthening only and only the defensive capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. At the same time, as a complementary activity to the transfer of military aid, we are studying solutions that allow the maintenance and operation of the systems already transferred.

The road ahead alongside Ukraine is still long and I am aware of the complexity of the situation and the difficulties that arise, but it would be a dramatic strategic and political mistake to take a step back now. Our support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine must continue until the Russian attacks cease.

Allow me some final thoughts. The full territorial integrity of Ukraine's recognized borders remains the goal of the entire international community. Once again, therefore, Italy chooses to be on the side of the freedom of nations and respect for international law, with the aim of arriving, in line with the positions taken by our allies, at a just and lasting peace. At the same time, we must be realistic and cannot ignore the military situation on the field which, although it can currently be considered in balance, outlines a different political geography from that of January 2022. Added to this are the aforementioned considerations regarding the real Ukrainian ability to counter the Russian opponent in the long term in a condition of persistent numerical inferiority and air inferiority. If the prospect of a new winter of war worries the Ukrainian population, Western countries are equally not indifferent to this scenario, with particular attention to the sensitivity of our public opinions. From this perspective, as I mentioned, the time seems to have come for an incisive diplomatic action to support the aid we are carrying out, because there are a series of important signals coming from both parties involved. The statements of various interlocutors on the Russian side highlight a slow and progressive maturation of a willingness to engage in dialogue to put an end to the war, suggesting the possibility of restoring relations with the forums that in the past have acted effectively to prevent and resolve international crises and tensions . The Russian economy, although it has been reconfigured into a war economy capable of supporting a prolonged war effort, will not be able to count indefinitely on the support of the Russian population, which is also affected by so-called war fatigue and continuous deprivation. . In Ukraine the internal front appears less compact than in the past in supporting President Zelensky's policy, highlighting some divergences in the political dialectic, which has so far been engaged in a total military effort aimed at repelling the Russian invasion without any compromise.

All this must be taken into consideration – we must do so – in the process of approaching the negotiations for the interruption of the conflict and for the subsequent process of normalization of relations not only between Russia and Ukraine, but also with Western countries. On the other hand, Russia must, and will, understand the determination of Western countries in order to avoid exacerbating situations of tension and, above all, to avert new ambitions for conquest in other regions of Eastern Europe.

Therefore, the action of the coming months will have to balance deterrence and diplomacy, sanctioning initiatives and de-escalatory opportunities, dialectics of firm condemnation and moments of dialogue, having to avoid triggering a pessimistic narrative and abandonment of Ukraine to its fate, which would a very serious and unacceptable harm not to Ukraine, but to the entire West, and would remove any possibility of serious negotiations.

This context, the credibility of the Italian defense support capabilities on a par with those of all other European countries, must be a driving force and spur for the European Union and its institutions to create the conditions to start discussions with Moscow, in full awareness that the conflict in Ukraine is a conflict on European territory which puts security and the European and Italian value system at risk.

For every peace negotiation, which we also hope for, we can only start from an assumption, which for us, the homeland of law, is a guiding principle: in the war between Russia and Ukraine there is an attacked party and an aggressor, in the war between Russia and Ukraine there is a Nation that bombs military and civilian targets of another Nation every day. Every day this war reminds us that we have the duty to defend the freedom of nations and international law. Every possible peace negotiation can only start from here, it can only start from a univocal vision, which is not questionable, on this war and on which of the two nations that are fighting it is the one that has violated every rule of civil coexistence .

In this very long tragedy in the center of Europe we have for years chosen with difficulty, because it is a political, military and economic effort, to take the side of the attacked. We did it with conviction, we continue to do it with conviction and we look with suffering at the length of this war and the wounds that this war is producing in the Ukrainian fabric, in Europe itself, in peace, in the possibility of expanded security, because you all have a full evidence that the other conflicts and other wounds that have opened have also opened as a consequence of this initial wound, that the pus emerging from this enormous wound has spread to other areas and is increasing every day the worsening of the conditions of security and peace in which we live.

We have chosen to defend international law, principles and values, not just a Nation. There is something bigger at stake, it doesn't have a first and last name, it's not just called Ukraine, it's not just called Ukrainian people. The war is about principles, values, rules that the world of nations has decided to give itself over the years. Over the years, the international community has decided to stop conflicts by establishing rules, that is international law. We are only reiterating this with force and determination: that, if we accept that the rule of the strongest returns to the world, if the assembly of Nations bows to the rule of the strongest, if the assembly of Nations decides to turn the other way part for political convenience, for economic tranquility, to be able to continue doing business, in the face of violations of this type, piece by piece, without us or our public opinions realizing it, we will lose spaces of freedom, we will lose spaces of democracy, we will lose spaces of security.

It is a dramatic and difficult path because we are walking on a ridge, because we seek peace by offering weapons to those who must defend themselves, because we live every day in the contradiction that every war has within it, but there is no just peace if an attacked people has not the possibility of defending oneself, there is no just peace or international law if the strongest can think of attacking the weakest without anyone helping them. It's a difficulty.

We live in a world in which selfishness prevails and in which the attempt of everyone – of people and, very often, of public opinions – is to have their own sphere of security without thinking about what happens hundreds of kilometers away , without the awareness that what happens hundreds of kilometers away enters your homes. This is what is happening with transport in the Red Sea, where the cost of freight and the cost of transport enters the homes and products that Italians find on their tables and increase inflation, even if only economic.

But what is at risk in the war in Ukraine is much more. Ukraine is the first door, but it is not the only door, and if the concept had passed that that door could be broken down without any reaction there would have been other subsequent doors, because the will was not to go and protect the populations Russian-speaking, but it was the desire to restore an ancient group of nations that was not called Russia, but was called the USSR, it was to restore a strength that had been lost over the years.

We have opposed this, we have opposed it in a bipartisan way in the past Government and we are trying to continue to do so today. We do it in our own way, we do it with parliamentary steps, we do it respecting what the Constitution obliges us and invites us to do, we do it by bringing a different approach, which is what I tried to illustrate today: being one of the first Nations in terms of aid, in terms of quantity and quality of aid, being one of the first nations that tries to say that we have two paths, that of aid without "ifs" and without "buts" and that of attempting to build a diplomatic path that bring us to the end of a conflict that the Ukrainians would like to put out of their heads first.

I'll say a phrase that I use to simplify: we can start talking when the bombs stop falling or the drones arrive on Ukrainian territory for an hour, 24 hours or 48 hours, because that's what we're talking about. There is a nation that, every day, every morning, every afternoon and every evening is attacked and has to defend itself from hundreds of bombs that fall on civilian and military targets and this has been the case for almost 2 years. When 24 hours have passed without these attacks starting or arriving, we will be able to start talking about peace and we have to get to this, we have to convince those who are attacking to stop. While waiting for this to happen, we must prevent those bombs from falling on the territories, from falling on kindergartens, hospitals, on Ukrainian civilian and military targets and that is what we have done in these 2 years, providing packages that have saved thousands of Ukrainian lives from a Russian attack.

Therefore, I would like this country to also be able to be proud of what this military aid was, because this military aid was the way in which we contributed, at our expense, to saving tens of thousands of lives of Ukrainian civilians. .

I am proud that our country has done this and I hope that we can continue to do so this year too.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/e-ormai-una-guerra-di-posizione-tra-russia-e-ucraina-lintervento-di-crosetto-in-parlamento/ on Thu, 11 Jan 2024 11:10:45 +0000.