The writer is professor emeritus in international economics at Stockholm University, senior research fellow at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics and former chair of the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council
Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine has now been going on for two and a half years. It has turned into a war of attrition. One contributing factor is that military support from the west has been insufficient, delayed and burdened with too many restrictions. The ongoing incursion into Russian territory suggests, however, that, if provided with enough resources, Ukraine can assert itself on the battlefield.
The Russian leadership believes that time is on its side, expecting the west will eventually tire of supporting Ukraine, allowing Russia to withstand the costs of the war much longer. This is paradoxical, given that the west’s economic resources far exceed those of Russia.