class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 fmXrkB”>
It’s a cursed Advent for Volodymyr Selensky (45). The internal political quarrels that have broken out in Ukraine over the failure of the counter-offensive are the least of the Ukrainian president’s problems.
Three developments are giving Ukraine its most difficult hours since the outbreak of war: The US, Ukraine’s main supplier of money and weapons, is blocking any further support. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin (71) happily travels around the world. And a new order to Russian troops in the Donbass has Ukrainian fighters shaking.
1) American Republican Christmas gift to Putin
The West has long kept its promise and provided Ukraine with everything it needs to defend itself against Russian invaders. Kiev has received weapons and war materials worth about $100 billion, much of it from its powerful overseas ally.
But now the Republicans in the Senate, the American Council of States, are blocking a new aid package to Ukraine worth 61 billion. The party of Donald Trump (77) is calling for tightening the US migration system and more money for the construction of a border wall with Mexico in exchange for their approval.
The White House warns that this is not the time for political games. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (70) apparently went so far as to warn Republican representatives behind closed doors that their sons would soon have to be sent to war with Russia if Putin was not stopped in Ukraine now.
The fact is: Ukraine receives 87 percent less aid than a year ago. The production of our own weapons is progressing slowly. And without financial support, the country will lack planning certainty for the extremely difficult months ahead. If the United States maintains its blockade and Europe does not step into the breach (of which there is no sign so far), Ukraine will lose the war.
2) Isolating Russia does not work
The situation is made worse by the support Putin currently receives. The Kremlin leader toured Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this week. In Abu Dhabi, planes sent clouds of blue, white and red smoke into the sky. And in Riyadh, Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (38) welcomed the ‘dear friend’ with the highest honor.
Shortly after his return, Putin was visited in Moscow by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (62), with whom Russia wants to conclude a new free trade agreement this year.
The Russian economy is growing, Russian oil is selling and Putin wants to invest around 100 billion euros in the military by 2024 – more than ever since Soviet times.
Another setback for Ukraine on Friday: the International Olympic Committee decided that Russian athletes will be allowed to participate as neutral participants in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. There is no trace of Russia’s international isolation, which the West tried to achieve with its sanctions.
3) A new targeting order gives free rein to Russian murder
The Ukrainian soldiers at the front are having difficulty with the thousands of Russian drones that – as a Ukrainian commander put it to Blick – circle above the military positions ‘like a swarm of bees’. Russian drone production is in full swing. So far in 2023, 33 percent more unmanned combat vehicles have been produced than in the previous year.
According to Russian military bloggers, Moscow recently even allowed its assault forces to attack individual soldiers with camera-controlled drones loaded with explosives. Until now, Moscow’s forces have only had to detonate drones for “saving reasons” if they can eliminate a strategically “more important” target than a single soldier.
This shows that although Kiev has to be increasingly sparing with its war equipment given the slowdown in aid deliveries, Russia can really make a lot of money. As long as Putin, who announced on Friday that he is running again for the presidential elections on March 17, has nothing to fear politically due to the numerous Russian victims at home, the signs are currently alarmingly good for his ruthless plan.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
