Militarily, diplomatically and economically, Ukraine and its allies are going through a difficult period from which Russia is benefiting. Le Monde columnist Sylvie Kaufmann reports this in her column.
“If the West cannot win the war in Ukraine, what war can it win? Good question… In fact, this question is interesting not so much because of the answer, but because it is being asked today, after twenty months of war. This means that the hypothesis of Ukraine’s defeat, despite Western support… is plausible,” writes Kaufmann.
The defense of Ukraine is presented by European leaders as existential, but now the conflict has reached a dead end and the situation resembles a perfect storm – an extreme crisis caused by the confluence of several unfavorable factors: “negative trends converge everywhere for Ukraine and its allies.”
The author recalled an interview with the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valery Zaluzhny to the British magazine The Economist, in which he admitted that the Ukrainian counter-offensive “will not lead to a good and deep breakthrough”, the situation at the front is stalemate.
“However, although Russia appears to have abandoned the mobilization of the civilian population… it is managing to revive its forces by replenishing its professional army… The size of the Ukrainian population, which is also suffering heavy losses, does not allow for recruitment on such a scale,” the article says .
The growth of defeatist sentiments among the Ukrainian and Western elites only aggravates the situation. At the same time, corruption scandals continue in the country, making it increasingly difficult for Kyiv to receive Western assistance. Well, Washington, according to the author, has already neglected the interests of Ukraine when the president Joe Biden signed a draft temporary budget, which did not include money for Independence Square.
2023-11-17 18:57:00
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