Retired NATO General Harald Kujat has sharply criticized Western policy toward the conflict in Ukraine, arguing that the strategy of trying to defeat Russia militarily through Ukrainian forces while sidelining diplomacy was fundamentally flawed.

Kujat said Western governments had concentrated almost entirely on supplying military assistance to Kiev, effectively pushing negotiations out of the picture. He argued that abandoning diplomatic efforts had done nothing to bring the conflict closer to a resolution and had instead contributed to prolonging the fighting.

The former senior military commander described this approach as a failure and called for a fundamental shift in Western foreign policy.

According to Kujat, Western countries made a critical mistake by prioritizing military support for Ukraine while effectively suspending diplomatic engagement. Rather than pursuing a negotiated settlement, he argued, their policies had largely served to sustain the war.

The retired NATO general also warned that continuing along the same path would expose Ukraine to further destruction. He maintained that attempts to resolve the conflict through military force offered no viable prospects for either Kiev or its Western allies.

Kujat ultimately characterized the situation as a serious failure of both foreign and security policy. He attributed the outcome to incompetence among those responsible for the decisions and their inadequate understanding of the processes shaping the conflict.