In a morale boost to the besieged country, the American President gave… Joe BidenAccording to the media, the green light to use American missiles against targets deep inside Russiawhich may limit Moscow’s options for launching attacks and supplying the front.
But this radical shift in policy may be reversed when Trump returns to… The white house In January, military experts warned that this development would not be enough alone to change the course of the 33-month-old war.
Thousands of Ukrainians have died, more than 6 million live abroad as refugees, and the population has fallen by a quarter since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraineleading to the outbreak of the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The war’s military losses are heavy, although they are still shrouded in secrecy. General Western estimates based on intelligence reports vary widely, but most say that hundreds of thousands were killed and wounded on each side.
The war has taken its toll on people in every corner of Ukraine, with military funerals becoming commonplace in major cities and outlying villages, and people exhausted by sleepless nights caused by air raid sirens and suffering.
And now, it’s back Trumpwho has pledged to end the war quickly – without explaining how he will do so – raises questions about the future of US military aid and a united Western front against Putin, and raises the possibility of talks to end the war.
The possibility of talks sparks escalation
As Ukraine enters uncharted territory, the sense of escalation is palpable as it seeks… Moscow and Kiev To improve their positions on the battlefield before any negotiations.
Ukraine is trying, relying on a number of its best forces, to maintain this small area of land Kursk province Within Russian territory it seized in August to use as a bargaining chip.
Kyiv says Russia It mobilized 50,000 soldiers in the region, while forces investigated Kremlin Also its fastest gains in eastern Ukraine since 2022, and pressure intensified in the northeast and southeast as well.
And announce Russian Ministry of DefenceAlmost every day, it expresses its control over a new town or village, especially in the Donetsk district of the Donbass region, which has a Russian-speaking Ukrainian majority, and in which the Donetsk and Lugansk districts declared their independence unilaterally before joining the Russian Federation following a referendum held in them and in the Zaporizhya region and the Crimean Peninsula. .
With the arrival of winter, Moscow on Sunday renewed its air attack on Ukraine’s crumbling energy grid, launching 120 missiles and 90 drones in the largest aerial bombardment since August.
In addition to the American green light to strike military targets inside Russia with weapons provided by the United States, financial aid and foreign weapons also remain important.
Russia’s demands
The Ukrainian president said Volodymyr Zelensky Last week, Kiev said that Kiev should do its best to end the war next year through diplomatic means. But he categorically rejected any talk about a ceasefire before providing appropriate security guarantees to Ukraine.
Russia said the war’s aims remained unchanged since Putin said in June that Ukraine should abandon its plans to join the EU. NATOIt must withdraw from four Ukrainian regions partially controlled by its forces, which means the surrender of Kiev.
To honor the dead, a group of small Ukrainian flags occupy a corner of Kiev’s Independence Square, once the beating heart of the popular pro-European protests that ousted Ukraine’s then-Moscow-backed president in 2014.
Russia responded to the protests by seizing Crimea Located on the Black Sea in Ukraine, and supporting the paramilitary rebellion in the east that killed 14,000 people before two series of talks, within the framework of the so-called Minsk format, succeeded in stopping the fighting with Kiev.
After the German Chancellor called Olaf Schulz With the Russian president Vladimir Putin On Friday, for the first time in nearly two years, Zelensky said the move reduced the Russian leader’s isolation. He also spoke against the idea of holding such negotiations Minsk talks.
“We want to warn everyone: there will be no Minsk 3; what we need is real peace,” he said.
