The most charitable thing that can be said about US President Joe Biden's belated decision to supply Ukraine with armoured vehicles is that his administration is finally coming to understand what is required to ensure the Ukrainian forces achieve victory in the brutal war with Russia.
The Biden administration may have taken an age to reach its decision to provide Ukraine with 50 Bradley Armoured Vehicles, but the provision of such weaponry is exactly what the Ukrainians need if they are to achieve their goal of defeating their Russian aggressors.
The American decision, moreover, has prompted other Western nations, such as Britain, France and Poland and Germany, to provide their own armour to the Ukrainians, a move that could immeasurably improve the ability of Ukrainian forces to liberate their country from Russia's illegal occupation.
Biden's decision to send Bradleys to Ukraine is a welcome change of direction from an administration that, since the start of the conflict in February last year, has been hesitant about how much support it should give Kyiv.
In one of the more damning examples of his indecisive leadership, Biden has seemed to be more concerned about upsetting Russian President Vladimir Putin than confronting the Kremlin's unprovoked act of aggression against its Ukrainian neighbour.
It could even be argued that Russia's invasion of Ukraine would not have happened in the first place had it not been for Biden's catastrophic handling of the withdrawal of military forces from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021. Biden's decision to abandon the Afghan people to their fate, not to mention his failure to properly coordinate the withdrawal with key allies such as Britain, sent a clear message to autocrats like Putin, as well as China's President Xi Jinping, that the Western powers were divided, and no longer had any interest in standing up to tyrannical regimes.
The West's perceived weakness may also explain why Putin made a series of veiled threats about using nuclear weapons if the Western powers became too involved in the Ukraine conflict, which initially had the desired effect of persuading the Biden administration to keep its distance.
It was only after the Ukrainians, inspired by President Volodymyr Zelensky's defiant leadership, demonstrated that it was possible both to confront Russian aggression and send the Russians packing that the Biden team overcame its reservations about supporting the Ukrainian cause.
Having been slow to respond to Zelensky's repeated requests for Washington to provide his forces with the equipment they require to defeat the Russians, it took Biden until last summer before he was willing to provide Kyiv with the long-range HIMARS missile systems that have enabled its military to turn the tide of the war in Ukraine's favour.
Now, with the Russians said to be preparing to mount a fresh offensive in Ukraine in the spring, the White House has significantly increased its support for the Ukrainian cause by offering to supply 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles as part of a new $2.8 billion arms package for Ukraine.
The Bradley is an armoured infantry carrier used to transport troops on the battlefield. Armed with a 25-mm gun, it also carries a launcher for TOW missiles that can destroy Russian tanks. Other elements in the arms package agreed by the White House include anti-tank missiles, self-propelled howitzers and millions of rounds of ammunition.
At a moment when Putin is giving serious consideration to a new spring offensive to make up for the disastrous losses he suffered last year, the US arms package could prove to be decisive in making sure the Ukrainians do not lose ground. Despite the setbacks they have suffered, the Russians are maintaining their offensive in Ukraine's Donbas region, where they have recently been involved in intense fighting around the strategically important city of Soledar.
Despite taking heavy casualties -- the Russians are estimated to be losing 500 men a day -- the Kremlin seems determined to maintain its campaign against Ukraine, with Putin said to be considering further mobilisations to replenish the enormous battlefield casualties the Russians have suffered to date.
In such circumstances it is vital, therefore, that the US and its allies set aside their reservations about defeating Putin's Russia, not least because all the indications are that Putin is currently losing his war, and Western support can make sure he suffers a catastrophic defeat.
It is vital therefore that, rather than constantly questioning the need to support the Ukrainian cause, American politicians, policymakers and the media comprehend that making sure that Russia suffers a devastating defeat is very much in America's interest.
It would remove the threat Russia poses to global security for a generation, allowing the Western powers to concentrate their focus on the far greater threat posed to world peace by Communist China.
Neutralising Putin means the Western alliance can ensure it is fully-prepared to deal with any future aggression from Beijing, such as threatening the independence of Taiwan.
Con Coughlin is the Telegraph's Defence and Foreign Affairs Editor and a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
Alexander Estrada