Ukraine's fighters in the east deserve a lot of praise for their bravery fighting Russian military aggression.
But that’s where the achievements of Ukraine’s security sector end, according to a number of global security experts who spoke at Kyiv Post’s Tiger conference on Nov. 19.
They said Ukraine urgently needs to address a whole array of issues, from designing a new security doctrine, to improving the values and morale of the army, to developing efficient ways to oppose aggression. They also said Ukraine can count on the foreign help, but only if it manages to combat its outdated and notoriously corrupt security system.
“You are not prepared for war, you just have to look at the numbers. Russian come here, and you are finished,” said Joseph LaGasse, US security expert and former special advisor with U.S. White House, speaking at the security panel.
Lt. General Mark Hertling, former Commanding General of U.S. Army in Europe, said Ukraine spends less than 1 percent of its GDP for national security, which the lowest figure in entire Europe. “We (the U.S.) contribute to defense of the countries that are helping themselves,” he said.
He added that war is the best time for reforming the armed forces. “You can get on war footing; then you will get support – need to have skin in game,” LaGasse told the Ukrainians in the audience.
LaGasse said that in order to build an efficient security system Ukraine needs to have a clear strategy and sufficient finances. He said the Ukrainians have to consider that Russian president Vladimir Putin used against them not only its army, but also close links of some Ukrainian oligarchs with Russia, huge money and its network of supporters in Europe, not to mention other powerful allies such as China and Iran.
LaGasse said Ukraine should consider appointing a special secretary on war, create training camps for its military volunteers, where they could have six to eight months of training. He also said Ukraine needs to invest a lot at the individual level and the level of the businesses into its army.
He also suggested that Ukraine should ink $8-10 billion worth of agricultural agreements with China that would make have a vested interest in stability inside of the country. “Promise this to them and they will help you to negotiate with Mr. Putin,” he said.
One of the central issues to tackle to improve security is corruption, however. Ukrainian officials admit that they are well aware of the problem.
Igor Smeshko, Head of Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine, said Ukraine now has to deal with Russia as an external enemy but it also has the “internal enemy” – corruption and lack of competence within security forces.
Smeshko said Ukraine needs to reform its defense ministry and general staff, and the ideology of this reform has to be based on the current war experience. “It’s very good we created a special department for special operations, but we need to urgently fill it with people, weapons and armored vehicles,” he said.
Smeshko added it was also a positive step that President Petro Porohsenko created a joint committee on intelligence issues that would coordinate all the intelligence efforts in the country. He said the Ukrainian army needs to have open military field manuals “so that every soldier knows how to act, for example, during riots.”
He said it was also crucial to create a sort of propaganda department within the defense ministry.
He said the National Security Service needs to become a national counter-intelligence agency, while the another, independent body has to deal with corruption fight. He also said Ukraine needs to demilitarize the police. “We know what to do, but we need time and trust of the society,” Smeshko added.
There is also much to do in foreign policy, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin said. “We have to be inventive and creative to win,” he says. We cannot win with the same instruments the enemy uses masterfully.
But Russia’s war against Ukraine is an international problem also, Klimkin said. The entire world security system needs to be reformed, which became clear during the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
“OSCE is becoming more and more a kind of talking show. We don’t have any international organization that will return the situation to status quo,” he said. “Ukraine is a real test for the current international system. Any kind of reshuffle of international system will be measured through Ukraine.”
Smeshko said that Ukraine already contributed a lot to the international security system when it had agreed to give over one of the largest arsenals of nuclear weapons in the world. So now is hopes for real support of the west in its efforts to stop Russia.
“This is problem for us, and we will do our job, we will fight… But we really need for the west to understand this is not only our war,” he said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected]
