Ukrainian servicemen of the 80th Independent Air Assault Brigade take a break at their base near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Marko Djurica
Consortium News: Western Leaders Privately Say Ukraine Can’t Win the War
The German and French leaders have told Ukraine they must seek peace with Russia in exchange for a post-war defense pact, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Western leaders privately told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine can not win the war against Russia and that it should begin peace talks with Moscow this year in exchange for closer ties with NATO.
The private communications are at odds with public statements from Western leaders who routinely say they will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes until it achieves victory on the battlefield.
The Wall Street Journal, which reported on the private remarks to Zelenksy, said:
“The public rhetoric masks deepening private doubts among politicians in the U.K., France and Germany that Ukraine will be able to expel the Russians from eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014, and a belief that the West can only help sustain the war effort for so long, especially if the conflict settles into a stalemate, officials from the three countries say.
‘We keep repeating that Russia mustn’t win, but what does that mean? If the war goes on for long enough with this intensity, Ukraine’s losses will become unbearable,’ a senior French official said. ‘And no one believes they will be able to retrieve Crimea.’
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Zelensky at an Élysée Palace dinner earlier this month that he must consider peace talks with Moscow, the Journal reported.
According to its source, the newspaper quoted Macron as telling Zelensky that “even mortal enemies like France and Germany had to make peace after World War II.”
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WNU Editor: Ukraine President Zelensky is not listening .... Zelensky Says Ukraine Is Preparing to Attack Crimea (Antiwar.com).
On a side note. I always ask my Ukrainian friends and family members who are 100% convinced that Ukraine will win the war on how can that be accomplished when Russia has ten times the manpower, resources, and fire power committed to the war that Ukraine has. I am still waiting for an answer.
