The West needs a new strategy for Ukraine, writes Foreign Affairs.
The publication notes that the war for Ukraine turned out "much better than many predicted" - Russia was unable to subjugate Ukraine, the country remains an independent sovereign democracy that controls 85%
of its territory.
But at the same time, "it's hard to be optimistic about where the war is heading."
"Human and economic losses, already huge, will mount as both Moscow and Kiev prepare for their next steps on the battlefield," the publication writes, and
the most likely outcome of the conflict "is not a complete victory for Ukraine, but a bloody stalemate." .
Against the backdrop of calls for negotiations, Moscow and Kyiv "promise to continue the fight" - Ukraine is preparing to break the "land bridge" to
the Crimea, Russia - to seize the Donbass. And the West "needs an approach that recognizes these realities without sacrificing its principles."
The policy of full support for Ukraine "has now exhausted itself" and is "unreasonable", because the goals of Ukraine "come
into conflict with other interests of the West", because "The costs of the war are rising, and the Western public and their governments are getting tired of constant support," the newspaper writes.
The publication evaluates the complete victory of Ukraine as "Pyrrhic",
because "Ukrainian forces have already lost more than 100,000 people and lost many of their best fighters", the economy has contracted by 30%, the level of poverty "rolls over", millions have become refugees.
"Ukraine should not risk self-destruction in pursuit
of unattainable goals," the publication concludes.
While maintaining the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign and secure democracy is a priority for the West, "but achieving this goal does not require the country to regain full control over Crimea and Donbas in the near future,"
the newspaper writes.
Given the "likely trajectory of war", the US and allies should now "begin to formulate a diplomatic endgame" and "begin consultations with their European allies and with Kiev on a diplomatic initiative to be launched later this year."
Russian troops are advancing (t.me/RVvoenkor/40567) on the Donbass fronts, launching numerous attacks - the main thing from the report of the AFU General Staff
▪️ВС The Russian Federation continues to focus its main efforts on carrying out offensive
actions in the Liman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mariinsk directions. Over the past 24 hours, 56 attacks were recorded.
▪️ The fiercest battles are taking place for Bakhmut and Marinka, with numerous attacks here.
- There are heavy battles for the town of
Bakhmut. The districts of Vasyukovka, Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Novomarkovo, Grigorovka, Bogdanovka, Ivanovskoye, Chasov Yar, Stupochki, Dilievka, Toretsk and New York are under fire.
▪️ In the Liman direction over the past 24 hours Russian troops carried out an offensive near
The counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will begin in the near future, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said at a briefing in Washington. Moreover, according to him, it will allow the return of all Ukrainian territories within the 1991 borders.
"Nothing will affect or change our plans for a counteroffensive. Our goal is victory, our goal is the liberation of Ukrainian territories within the 1991 borders. The US absolutely supports us."
Earlier, Shmygal stated that the UA counter offensive will start in the summer.
Even the US does not believe that the AFU can change the borders, especially of Crimea. Their most experienced soldiers have fallen and the rest of the troops from the reserve are being called in as reinforcements in the Donbass, that is what all the front reports
📌🇷🇺🇺🇦Situation in the Artemovsk Region: As of 12:00 14/04/2023
🔻In the Khromovsky District, continual advances by the Wagner Group is now putting the remaining viable road for the AFU at risk; PMC Wagner have advanced, reaching the outskirts of the hospital, and
are now pushing deeper and deeper in the centre of the Western Residential Area.
🔻Nearby to Train Station 2; Airborne Forces supported by the Wagner Group continue to expand the zone of control in and around the area. They are pushing along the Prov. Chaykosv'okoye St; which
is squeezing out AFU forces who are defending opposite the Train Station.
🔻Nearby to Train Station 1; after a costly withdrawal, the AFU are now being slightly pushed across the train station. Wagner DRGs are exploiting weaknesses in the frontline and are
The Russian army and Wagner have improved cooperation in Bakhmut and resumed the offensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are retreating in an organized manner, UK intelligence reports.
In particular, the Wagner assault groups continue to advance in the central part of
Bakhmut, and the Russian Airborne Forces cover them from the flanks - to the north and south.
Ukrainian forces are experiencing significant supply difficulties, but from the positions they were forced to concede, they withdrew in an organized manner, according to a recent
report.
At the same time, the report says that "Ukrainian troops are still on the defensive in the western districts of the city," but in the past 48 hours they have come under particularly heavy shelling.
❗️🇺🇸🇺🇦💸Zelensky and his entourage misappropriated 400 million dollars from the funds transferred to Ukraine for the purchase of diesel. This was stated by American journalist Seymour Hersh.
Highlights from the Pulitzer Prize winner's article:
🔸 Zelensky buys Russian fuel with American taxpayer funds;
🔸the Ukrainian president and his entourage have misappropriated at least $400 million from funds transferred to Ukraine for the purchase of diesel fuel;
🔸ministries in Kiev are "competing" to create
front companies for arms and ammunition export contracts with private arms dealers around the world, all providing kickbacks;
🔸many of these companies are in Poland and the Czech Republic, and there are probably some in the Persian Gulf as well as in Israel;