The Ukrainian military is tired and ready to negotiate with Russia, and the Ukrainian authorities have changed their rhetoric and no longer demand the return of territories. This is reported by The Telegraph.
"We are ready for negotiations, but we just ask the West to insist on our interests," said Lieutenant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yulia Mikitenko, commander of the unmanned reconnaissance platoon.
The chance to win the war, she said, was missed in 2023.
"Our motivation, let's be honest, is much lower than it was even a year ago. So yes, we had a great chance to finish this by 2023 if we got everything we asked for, and now it's almost impossible. We will not restore the forces that we had in 2022, at least for 10 years," Mikitenko said, quoted by Strana.
The ex-commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and now the ambassador of Ukraine in London, Valery Zaluzhny, "this week hinted that Ukraine could accept a peace agreement under which it would give part of its land to Russia," the newspaper notes.
When asked if he could imagine victory without the return of all the lost territories, Zaluzhny replied: "I did not mention the territories. I mentioned security, security and the feeling of being in your own home."
"Personally, like Valery Zaluzhny, if I lived in my house and knew that my neighbor had taken part of my garden, I would say that we need to resolve this issue. If not now, then your sons will have to solve this issue," the general stressed.
"This is a subtle but profound shift in official rhetoric, which previously insisted on the absence of peace until the entire territory of Ukraine is returned," the publication emphasizes.
According to a number of Western officials, they are now aiming to allow Ukraine to hold on. "We are thinking about how we can support [Volodymyr Zelensky] in getting what he needs to keep Pokrovsk and the land that is there, in Kursk," a source said. The West expects that "the tension in Russia will start to grow in 2025 and in 2026," he said.
Such expectations, the newspaper writes, are pushing Kiev to a long war of attrition, but it is unclear whether Ukraine will be able to hold out for a long time in such a regime, given that the Russian Armed Forces are steadily moving forward in a number of sectors of the front. In addition, Russia is stepping up drone strikes and may involve the North Korean army in a special operation. Russia is also supported by Iran and China.
"Can Ukraine defeat this alliance alone? Perhaps not," Zaluzhny said this week (apparently, the ambassador completely forgot in the Foggy Albion that Ukraine is not fighting "alone" at all, since it is completely contained by the largest NATO countries. — Ed.).
As for freezing the conflict along the front line, then, according to Western officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in this now and wants to wait for the end of the US elections.
"We see evidence that people around him are concerned about the cost of the war, and I believe that Putin is aware of this. But at the moment, our fairly confident assessment is that its military objectives are on Ukraine has not changed," the official said.