From our correspondent
ZAPORIZHZHIA – BUT When and, above all, how will the war end? The question is not rhetorical. American leaders are talking about this seriously with Ukrainian leaders in an effort to make sense of the war effort, which since the beginning of June has seen the Kyiv Army launch a counteroffensive aimed at liberating as many lands as the Kyiv Republic has occupied. The Russian army both in 2014 and in the last 16 months. the Washington Post Confidential sources cite the Pentagon as the beginning of the latest Ukrainian offensive operations He transferred the director of the CIA, William Burns, to Volodymyr Zelensky who met him with his senior aides.
The specific content of the interviews remains confidential. But the issues on the table are known: if only you ask yourself Accurate goals They will become clear or final victories disasterEspecially It will be possible to determine the moment of transition from armed duel to diplomacy in view of the cease-fire. From what is known, the Ukrainians apparently answered that they were giving themselves time until the onset of winter He attempted to recover as much of the lost territory as possible, and then, from a position of strength, opened himself up to dialogue with Moscow. The reasons are clear. Firstly, the US election campaign next year will be dominated by fear (for Ukrainians) of the victory of pro-Putin Donald Trump. Added to this is the possibility of fatigue and disinterest growing on the Allied front A war that seems to be moving in slow motion. Finally, it must be borne in mind that Ukrainian society itself is at risk of being drained in daily deaths and destruction.
Hence the need for the Ukrainian military leadership to speed up the offensive (Zelensky himself admitted that there was less progress than expected.) Even General Mark Milley, Commander-in-Chief of the US Army, at a conference at the National Press Club in Washington yesterday spoke of “a very bloody fight, in which one advances 500, 1000 or 2000 meters a day.” The main problem for the Ukrainians remains the massive Russian minefields across the front and the lack of long-range missiles and effective aviation. Not by chance All their military and political leaders insist on asking the Allies to send F-16 fighters and heavy weapons to support the infantry. This does not mean that Kiev continues to stress its determination to intensify attacks in the coming weeks, given that the bulk of the NATO-trained forces and Western equipment received in recent months has not yet been used. The Ukrainians were also encouraged by those who headed the CIA yesterday itself, at a conference in England, which was defined as the “destructive consequences” of the uprising of the mercenary militia Wagner and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin against the Moscow regime. After confirming that the United States had no role, Burns stressed that it did The war has weakened Putin, giving his adversaries and the CIA new opportunities to recruit agents in Russia.
But the Ukrainians fear that Putin may resort to a “dirty” weapon, for example by causing a nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The precedent of the attack on the Nova Kakhovka Dam three weeks ago shows that the Russians are prepared to do anything not to back down. Yesterday Zelensky also spoke about this to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and called on the international community to “watch” Zaporizhia.
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