Ukraine’s Top Military Commander Admits the War Is in a Stalemate

In an interview with London’s The Economist, published Nov. 1, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny recognized that the war is now in a “stalemate”, and “there will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough”. Rather, the conflict may “drag on for years” and “wear down” the country, unless a “new level of technology” is provided from the West. The commander-in-chief goes on to draw a parallel to the First World War. As The Economist notes, he acknowledges that Russia has the advantage in what will be a long war.

(Russian spokesmen, on the contrary, deny any stalemate from their side, as Russian forces continue to pursue their goal.)

The remarks by Gen. Zaluzhny provoked panic among Kyiv’s Western supporters, who insist on maintaining the illusion that Russia can be defeated, and that Global NATO will prevail – despite all evidence to the contrary. That the regime is not united behind the current strategy, as dictated from the West, is also corroborated in a lengthy article in Time magazine released Oct. 30.

Reporter Simon Shuster was able to follow Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some of his top aides around as part of an interview he was doing with the President. What comes across immediately in the interview is the frustration with Ukraine’s Western partners for having war fatigue, especially after the onset of the Israeli-Palestine war. Much more interesting than the interview as such, is what Shuster heard from other sources.

He writes: “Despite the recent setbacks on the battlefield, he [Zelenskyy] does not intend to give up fighting or to sue for any kind of peace. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine’s ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisers. It is immovable, verging on the messianic.”

One of the President’s closest aides told Shuster that “We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that….”. In debates on a new strategy among his team, “one issue has remained taboo: the possibility of negotiating a peace deal with the Russians”.

Coming back to Gen. Zaluzhny’s interview, Zelenskyy was asked about it at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Nov. 4 with Ursula von der Leyen. He insisted that “we have no right to give up”, adding that we need to think about where we are today, “not about where we will be tomorrow”. Such short-sightedness, as any good statesman or commander knows, is the stuff of tragedy.