Reference News Network reported on February 26 The UAE "National" website published an article titled "The war in Ukraine enters its third year, Kiev faces an uphill battle" on February 24. It is compiled as follows:
In the past year, Ukraine's early gains are gradually being lost. Now, the Ukrainian army is forced to withdraw from Avdeyevka and implement a new defense-focused plan under the leadership of its new commander-in-chief.
On the one hand, Ukraine's willingness to continue fighting seems to be still very strong; on the other hand, the scale of the Ukrainian army's casualties and the lack of new recruits make manpower seem to be becoming a problem. But Ukrainian officials prefer to complain about shortages of weapons and ammunition, which can be blamed on the West. Now that Ukraine's winning streak appears to be over, could the smaller and slower arms deliveries reflect growing war fatigue among the allies? Confidence in Ukraine's victory has waned, while Western countries' own stockpiles have also dwindled.
This is especially true for the United States, where aid to Ukraine has become the subject of intense political confrontation in Congress during an election year. A major change in the U.S. stance on Ukraine may not have to wait until Trump wins. As things stand, Congress may halt more aid plans to Ukraine during President Biden’s term.
While Ukraine's fortunes have worsened, Russia's have improved over the past year. Western sanctions have had no long-term impact. Putin looks set to win next month's presidential election.
However, the war in Gaza shifted the focus of international politics and media from Ukraine to the Middle East, turning the United States' diplomatic and political attention to its old ally Israel, and suddenly Ukraine was involved in the competition for the United States' already insufficient military supplies.
Although the United States insists that Ukraine is a war that the West cannot lose, it is difficult to see how Kyiv can attract the attention of the United States in the same way again, at least not until after the US election. Washington might even decide it wants peace rather than war over Ukraine and try to push Kyiv into negotiations.
Some say the situation is at a stalemate, others think Russia is advancing slowly but steadily. But as things stand, it's hard to imagine the war continuing for another year. Russia has greater reserves of troops and supplies, and Ukraine risks running out of both. As in the United States, public sentiment in much of Europe appears to be leaning toward negotiations, and getting Ukraine to accept them would be difficult and could mean Zelensky's downfall. But Russia’s resilience, U.S. distraction, and Europe’s lack of resources will exacerbate divisions within Ukraine, which, combined with Ukraine’s lack of combatants, will at least lead to an end to the hot war. Negotiators need to be prepared.
