‘Putin’s confidence in the Russian army overshadowed Zelensky’s belief in Western assistance’, – Al Jazeera

During recent press conferences on military matters, Putin’s confidence clearly overshadowed Zelensky’s faith in the support of allies.

This is reported by Al Jazeera.

The failure of the summer counteroffensive has caused a division among Ukraine’s Western sponsors. In the past few weeks, Ukraine has once again had to resort to defense due to the advancement of Russian troops.

Putin announced a 70% increase in the military budget next year, allocating a record-breaking $157 billion for war—the highest amount since the end of the Cold War. On his part, Zelensky failed to secure new tranches from his most loyal allies: internal disagreements in the US and the European Union deprive Kiev of $61.4 billion and $76.6 billion in financial aid, respectively.

Even if Ukraine receives these funds next year, it faces serious problems due to a lack of ammunition and soldiers. Zelensky stated that the military command suggests lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25 to enlist half a million more people into the army. At the same time, Brigadier General Alexander Tarnavsky pointed out in an interview with Reuters that Kiev is scaling back some operations due to a shortage of ammunition ‘across the entire front line.