Are Cracks Appearing In The West Against The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine?

Wall Street Journal: Cracks Appear in Western Front Against Russia's War in Ukraine 

Cracks are appearing in the Western front against Moscow, with America’s European allies increasingly split over whether to keep shipping more powerful weapons to Ukraine, which some of them fear could prolong the conflict and increase its economic fallout. 

At the center of the disagreement—which is splitting a group of Western European powers from the U.S., U.K. and a group of mostly central and northern European nations—are diverging perceptions of the long-term threat posed by Russia and whether Ukraine can actually prevail on the battlefield. 

The first bloc, led by France and Germany, is growing reluctant to provide Ukraine the kinds of offensive, long-range weapons it would need to reclaim ground lost to Russia’s armies in the country’s south and east. They doubt Russia would directly threaten the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 

On the other side, Washington, London and a group of mainly central and northern European nations, some of them former Soviet bloc members, see the Russian offensive as a harbinger of further expansion by Moscow, making Ukraine the front line in a broader war pitching Russia against the West.  

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WNU Editor: The costs of the Russia - Ukraine war are only now being felt by Europeans .... Euro zone inflation hits yet another record high as food and energy prices soar (CNBC). The expected natural gas shortages this winter is only going to exacerbate this economic crisis. 

The French and the Germans are also signaling that Ukraine will not be able to stop Russian military advances even if more arms and assistance is provided. With this intelligence assessment, I can easily see Berlin and Paris pushing for a diplomatic solution to end the war later this summer. 

As for the U.S./UK/Poland/Baltic states .... they are on a different agenda. US officials have publicly said more than once that this is an opportunity to bleed Russia, and this policy will be the one pursued in the coming months even if some EU states may disagree.