WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Ukraine's envoy to Washington cautioned the US and allies against fatigue over a war that's costing billions of dollars in security assistance, saying it would be far costlier in the end to let Russia's President Vladimir Putin go unchallenged.
"Can you simply say, 'OK, let's forget about Ukraine and do something else'? The answer is no," Ambassador Oksana Markarova said in an interview Thursday (Aug 11) in Bloomberg's Washington office.
If Mr Putin isn't stopped in Ukraine, she said, "it means that he will attack other countries in Europe" that are covered by Nato's mutual defence pact. "And then everyone will have to fight, and it's going to be much more expensive."
So far, though, Ms Markarova, whose home near Kyiv was occupied by Russians for 42 days, said she hasn't seen any sign that the support for Ukraine is flagging despite its frequent requests for more advanced weaponry and billions in financial aid to help the government weather enormous deficits prompted by the invasion.
"Your best shot is to help us to fight and stop it while it's still in Ukraine," she said.
Failure to block Mr Putin now would only embolden him further, citing Russia's push into Georgia in 2008 and its seizure of Crimea in 2014, she said.
As winter approaches in Western Europe, Ms Markarova, a former finance minister, acknowledged the prospect that Russia could cut off oil and gas supplies that remain crucial for heating millions of homes and powering industry.
"The circle of Russian allies is a very small circle now," Ms Markarova said. "But in addition to countries like North Korea and Iran and others that still support Russia, winter is one of their allies."
Saying that Ukraine endured Russian efforts to weaponise energy supplies in 2009, "not all of our partners diversified or decreased their dependence on it before now," she said.
Ms Markarova said that the influx of US weapons systems - including HIMARS GPS-guided rocket systems, 155mm artillery and ground radar to locate Russian weapons - has been crucial.
But she said that still more long-range systems are needed, "not because we need to shoot at Russian territory" but "simply because we need to be able to reach everywhere in our territory" and to have flexibility over where to deploy forces.
"We need numbers, we need range," Ms Markarova said. She said Pentagon officials "know what we need, why we need it."
Asked what systems Ukraine has asked for but not yet received, Ms Markarova cited different types of munitions for the HIMARS system and types of howitzers in addition to the M777s received to date.
Ukraine is also requesting types of pilotless aircraft beyond the armed Turkish-made Bayraktar, US-made Switchblade, Phoenix Ghost and Puma reconnaissance models, she said.
"There are other capabilities that are out there," she said. "There's not a single capability that we would say 'no' to."
