Has the West Given up on Ukraine?

There is widespread recognition by now, in the United States in particular, that the war in Ukraine has been lost. The latest budget passed by the Congress has not allocated any new funds to the war effort, due to the opposition to funding a losing propsition and also to fears in the White House as the next presidential election draws nearer. Another pressing consideration is the fact that the United States, whether it wants to or not, does not have the weapons and equipment needed to sustain NATO’s war effort against Russia.

This reality continues to be vehemently denied in Kyiv by President Zelenskyy, but not by the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov. He warned Nov. 25 that the days of large-scale Western support are over and that there was pressure for negotiations and a potential ceasefire with the Russians. On that topic, he said, “discussions among certain partners have intensified”.

Although Germany’s tabloid Bild is not a reputable source, we can nonetheless quote a story it ran Nov. 27, quoting Ukrainians soldiers who are enraged with the government. “We are defending our country, we risk our lives,” one of them says, “and in the end we have to pay ourselves for armaments, our rent, our food, and repair our vehicles ourselves. What is the government doing with all the money from abroad? We have been abandoned by this government more and more.” The daily also quotes an officer, for whom “the general staff should have nixed the orders given to Zelenskyy from abroad for the counteroffensive. They should have resisted it.”

While NATO’s direct engagement in Ukraine may be winding down, the war against Russia will continue, but by other means. Hopefully, in the meanwhile, more forces within Ukraine will demand their country stop playing the role of pawn.