If Ukrainian forces do not receive Western aid soon, Russian soldiers could be at Kyiv’s gates in the near future as they have stepped up offensive efforts across the battlefront, according to The Times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Western allies, reiterating the call for receiving promised military aid. He stated that he would not leave Ukraine, but his army was in dire need of ammunition to fight Russian forces.
However, while Western allies delayed providing aid, with the United States battling over the $60 billion package, Russian troops began to pierce the Ukrainian defences. The retreating soldiers were only able to hold back the offensive.
Western politicians anticipate that Ukraine will be overwhelmed by another wave of refugees as Russian forces approach the capital. Events are forcing Europe’s military and civilian leaders to consider a fallback plan for Ukrainian forces deprived of essential weapons and ammunition.
While the media talk about a “frozen conflict”, the battlefield is being fiercely contested, with a real risk of Ukrainian forces being pushed back. At this rate, NATO leaders will be forced to put the issue on the agenda during the July summit in Washington, D.C., marking the alliance’s 75th anniversary.
Less than a year ago, Western allies pinned great hopes for the Ukrainian counter-offensive that would have helped Kyiv to regain its lost territories. However, it has not been successful and now Ukrainian ground forces risk facing a major retaliatory offensive.
Ukraine’s most active allies are now not ruling out even the worst scenarios. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that Ukraine is running out of money, urging Congress to pass a bill that has stalled amid legislative debates. According to her, the US risks taking responsibility for Ukraine’s defeat, thus undermining the nation’s credibility as a guarantor of peace and justice.
French President Emmanuel Macron felt the danger before anyone else when he did not rule out sending NATO troops to Ukraine. However, his allies, such as Germany, strongly condemned the call. At the same time, European leaders realise that the fall of Kyiv could mean a threat to the Baltic states, Poland, Finland and other EU countries.
Speeches about Ukraine’s victory have disappeared from the statements of Western politicians, replaced by calls that the country must endure. However, no one specifies how it will cope with a large-scale offensive amid acute shortages of aid and ammunition. The consequences of its partial or total defeat will be disastrous, but the Western public does not yet seem to understand this.
Ahead of the events in Ukraine, the Biden administration suffered a blow in Afghanistan when it failed to anticipate the immediate collapse of the local government after the withdrawal of US troops in August 2021. The situation has greatly undermined the credibility of the United States.
Then the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022. At that time, Zelensky refused to leave Kyiv, setting an example of resistance for his citizens to follow. Nevertheless, the war-fatigued Western public seems to have come to the conclusion that Ukrainians need help as the conflict will end sooner or later.
A January poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations conducted in 12 countries found that only 10 per cent of respondents believed that a Ukrainian victory was possible. Some 37 per cent named compromise as the most likely option, while 19.5 per cent considered that Russia would win.
Without prompt Western assistance, the fall of Kyiv is just around the corner, especially given the possible victory in the November 2024 US presidential election of Donald Trump, who has promised to “end the war in Ukraine,” without specifying, however, what the outcome of the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation will be.
