Ukraine would be in stronger position if West gave weapons it is supplying immediately - military expert Sherr

"The armed forces of Ukraine are going through an unprecedented transition from the use of Soviet weapons to the most modern and technologically advanced Western weapons. This is an extremely difficult transition. It takes time to train people. They need time to understand the specifics. The supply and maintenance itself is very difficult. You cannot take  and simply hand over 50 HIMARS to Ukrainian forces overnight, with the belief that you are handing over something suitable for immediate use," he noted.

According to Sher, despite the political restrictions set by the White House, the Pentagon and the US Armed Forces are supplying Ukraine with everything they can, in the shortest possible time.

"I am also firmly convinced that, as in the past, Ukrainian military personnel are becoming more and more experienced and very quickly integrating new weapons into Ukraine's order of battle. Therefore, do not rush to brand the West with the stigma of reluctance and procrastination. As I said, the other side of the coin is  , that in some places in the US there is an unhealthy level of fear of Russian escalation. The increase in the level of support that will be provided to Ukraine, as well as the risks that will be taken for your sake, depends on your reaction to these Russian threats," the expert added.

He believes that there are no grounds for restrictions on the range and characteristics of weapons for Ukraine.

"At the beginning of the war, Zelenskyy and the government offered the West a very profitable and simple scenario. "Give us weapons and everything we need to fight, and we will manage ourselves, you will not have to enter this war." And I would say that we fulfilled our obligations  if certain steps that we are taking now, certain categories of weapons that we are now supplying, had been provided as soon as we were first approached for help, then Ukraine would be in a much stronger position now  . The state of the country would be better. The West would be stronger. The Russians would have realized earlier that they cannot intimidate us because we have essentially nothing to fear. The Russians are willing to take risks, but they are not reckless. We have no choice but to take risks that cannot be avoided in this situation. Risks and the danger of escalation are inherent components of war that must be accepted," Sherr concluded.