Leaders | End of the peace dividend

How to get more bang for the buck in Western defence budgets

Lessons from the war in Ukraine

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers fire a cannon near Bakhmut, an eastern city where fierce battles against Russian forces have been taking place, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 15, 2023. For months, Western allies have shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons systems and ammunition to Ukraine with an urgency to get the supplies to Kyiv in time for an anticipated spring counteroffensive. Now summer is just weeks away. While Russia and Ukraine are focused on an intense battle for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian spring offensive has yet to begin. (AP Photo/Libkos, File)
Image: AP

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Paying for a new arms race”

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