
‘Russia has a unique opportunity to strike into the rear of Ukraine’, – UnHerd
January 16, 2024
“You don’t feel alive”: Ukrainians are profoundly traumatized by war
January 16, 2024The White House wants Ukraine to shift its strategy from offensive to defensive, and this message from Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be delivered by U.S. Presidential Advisor Jake Sullivan at the Davos Forum.
This information reported according to Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth.
“Zelensky understands why this makes sense, although he would prefer not to talk about it publicly,” the author believes. In order to maintain morale in Ukraine, “Zelensky feels he must continue to deny the military impasse.”
The author notes that the meeting organized by Ukraine in Davos to rally as many countries as possible around Zelensky’s peace formula has become a dead end.
“But Russia was not invited, and China did not show up, so everyone knows it’s a dead end,” Kluth believes.
In his opinion, after the failure of the counteroffensive and high losses, “there can be no talk” of a Ukrainian Armed Forces (VSU) offensive. However, the author thinks Russia, until the U.S. presidential elections, will primarily focus on holding the captured territories “hoping that Donald Trump will return to the White House.”
He points out the disparity in the potential of Ukraine and Russia.
“Putin has turned Russian society into a military economy. The Kremlin will spend 8% of GDP on its army in 2024, exceeding social spending for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian factories produce ammunition and bombs, and their partners Iran and North Korea send even more. Ukraine has fewer resources,” Kluth writes.
Therefore, in his opinion, “Zelensky is right to reject the repeated calls from the West for a ceasefire.”
“Russia will use the pause to rearm and replenish supplies, to later resume a full-scale attack on Ukrainian society. Meanwhile, during the same ceasefire, Ukraine may not receive more money and weapons from the West. Thus, a ceasefire now may be equivalent to surrender in the future,” Kluth concludes.
“The most shocking thing here is how much the West has already betrayed Kyiv,” the author adds.