Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
The protraction of war in Ukraine, which is now into its fourth month, could erode the West’s interest in helping the country in the face of Moscow’s military operation, officials and analysts say.
Top Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have in recent days expressed fears that “war fatigue” could push Kiev’s Western allies away, giving Russia an advantage in the field.
“The fatigue is growing, people want some kind of outcome [that is beneficial] for themselves, and we want [another] outcome for ourselves,” Zelensky said on Friday, in a tone of exasperation.
The Ukrainian head of state’s remarks came in response to Western suggestions that he should mull over a compromise deal with Russia to avoid the conflict from dragging on.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
In 2014, the two regions had declared themselves new republics, refusing to recognize Ukraine’s Western-backed government.
Ukraine has said it would decide its terms for peace, insisting that it would not only seek to retake the areas that have been overrun by Russia but also take back its Crimean peninsula which became part of Russia after a 2014 independence referendum.
Kiev has so far turned down an Italian peace proposal. It has also frowned on a suggestion by French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently urged against efforts at “humiliating Russia so when the fighting stops we can build a way out together via diplomatic paths.”
