The war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas massacre on October 7, has inevitably overshadowed the conflict in Ukraine. So far no one has asked Kiev to stop fighting and start negotiations with Moscow but evidently the country fears this development. This is demonstrated by the dramatic appeal launched by the first lady Olenza Zelenska: “If the world gets tired of helping us, it will simply let us die. For us it is a vital issue,” he said in an interview with the BBC which will be broadcast in full on Sunday. Expressing a deep sense of anguish in the face of the obvious signs of « tiredness” of the countries that have so far supported Ukraine with crucial funding to defend itself from the Kremlin’s army. Starting with the United States, the main financing country, where on 6 December the obstructionism of the Republicans effectively blocked the new package for over 108 billion dollars, of which 60 for Kiev, requested by the Biden administration.
«We really need help. We cannot get tired, because if we do, we die. It hurts us greatly to see signs that the passionate availability that has existed up to now may be weakening. For us it is vital. It hurts to see what is happening”, declared Olenza Zelenska, who is well aware of how her country’s war effort, almost two years after the Russian invasion, is seriously at risk of dissolving if the substantial financial support received so far were to disappear. . In short, political support and verbal solidarity are not enough. After all, Ukraine is still hoping for the US aid package after the setback in the Senate. And especially in the intentions of President Joe Biden who defined the obstructionism of the Republicans as “insane”, making it clear that not only the future of Ukraine but of the entire free world is at stake: “We cannot allow Putin to win” , he has declared. Words echoed by British Foreign Minister David Cameron, urging the United States “not to give a Christmas present” to the Russian president.
Meanwhile, Putin seems to have put the war in Ukraine at the top of the agenda for next year’s election campaign where he officially ran on Friday for a fifth presidential term. According to analysts from the American think tank ISW, the head of the Kremlin wants to overcome the discontent of the soldiers’ relatives and show the country that he has the full support of the army, so as to make any discussion about the war during the campaign superfluous. The plans are clear: Ukraine remains under attack, possibly taking control of Avdiivka, and perhaps Kupiansk (in Donetsk) before the vote starts on March 15. Kiev, however, does not give up: although weakened by the lack of success of the counteroffensive and by fears of being abandoned by its main ally, today it relaunched the number one point of the Ukrainian strategy on the ground through the mouth of Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Who declared on public television: “The army is preparing, in 2024 we will force the Russians to leave Crimea forever.”