Should we really set up Ukrainian arms factories in Sweden - in the middle of a hopeless war?

Mr Pål Jonson, our Defence Minister, is now opening the door to Ukrainian arms factories to be established in Sweden. The justification? That Ukraine needs continued military support - perhaps in for years to come. One has to ask: why are Mr Jonson and the government so convinced that this war will go on for many more years?

Have we already given up hope for a negotiated solution?

The reality is brutal: Russia's military goal - to demilitarise Ukraine - is very close to being achieved. Ukraine's air defences are largely depleted. Daily attacks with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and artillery shells destroying the country's infrastructure, communities - and above all people.

A generation of young Ukrainian men sacrificed

The Ukrainian army is suffering huge losses. An entire generation of young men is now literally being sacrificed - for what? A war where the prospect of military victory is virtually non-existent. Even the US, which has been the largest donor, has increasingly cut back on arms supplies.

But Sweden is choosing to go the opposite way. We will now act as a base for the Ukrainian war industry, despite the fact that we have no experience of large-scale war, despite the fact that our own defence industry has been heavily dismantled for decades, and despite the fact that the Swedish people have not given their express support to prolonging this war at all costs.

What is the objective - to keep the war going at all costs?

We are told that we should be “thankful” that Ukrainian men bleed for our security. But should our gratitude really mean contributing to a war that cannot be won militarily - but only leads to further destruction, death and loss?

When Mr Jonson says we should help Ukraine to “resist”, he should ask himself whether this really helps Ukraine - or just postpones an inevitable end, at a terribly high price. In practice, it is the Ukrainian people who are paying the price - in blood, in ruins, in a shattered nation.

Sweden is also bleeding - economically and morally

While we spend billions on arms exports and new military infrastructure, we close hospitals, cut back on health and education, telling the Swedish people that there is no money for elderly care or healthcare.

But to arms - there it is unlimited. Those who benefit from this are not Ukraine. It is the owners of the war industry, large companies like Investor and other industrial players with strong links to both politics and arms exports.

Go down yourself, Pål Jonson

If Mr Jonson is so convinced of the necessity of this war, he can personally go down to Ukraine. Let him sit in a trench, without air defences, under constant fire from Russian artillery, fighter planes and drones. And if he were to die there side by side with his Ukrainian comrades-in-arms, that is also  something that ”the Swedish people should be grateful for”?

Or is it time to shifting policy - from military escalation to negotiation and peace?

It is not only Ukraine that loses from this war. We all lose. And if no one says stop, we will soon be another country that has built its future on perpetual war.