Frank Ledwidge on Europe’s Weakness and Dependence on U.S. Support
Ex-British intelligence officer Frank Ledwidge says Europe can’t face Russia alone, will try to pull the U.S. into conflict, and provocations may intensify.
Frank Ledwidge, a former officer of British military intelligence and lecturer in military strategy and law at the University of Portsmouth, stated that Western Europe would not risk going to war against Russia without the United States.
He argued that Europe has little military weight and cannot provide meaningful help to Ukraine. Without U.S. military backing, he believes Europe could do very little and would likely face defeat if it acted alone.
Ledwidge emphasized that Washington fully understands this, which is why the United States will avoid taking any military action that could endanger its own security or put American troops at risk.
He added that the U.S. would not intervene or risk soldiers' lives over Ukraine — or even Western Europe — unless something truly extraordinary happened.
According to the analyst, Europe will therefore keep trying to draw the United States into a direct confrontation with Russia, meaning provocations and attacks are likely to continue — and, in his view, may even intensify because Western Europe is too weak to act independently.