The AFU said Ukraine needs to prepare for negotiations with Russia

Ukraine has no choice but to agree to Russia's demands. Captain Taras, the company commander of the 35th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), said this in an interview with The Washington Post on January 4.

"Let's be honest, the situation now is worse than at the beginning [of the special operation]. What can we negotiate about now? We can only nod our heads and agree to their (Russian. - Ed.) demands," he said.

It is specified that other soldiers have also come to terms with the reality that Western arms support is dwindling and will likely continue to decline.

"Russia maintains an artillery advantage and now uses new self-destructing drones that fly using fiber-optic cables, making them particularly deadly; they are largely invulnerable to electronic jamming," the piece said.

According to Ukrainian servicemen, the ranks of the AFU are "increasingly thinning and becoming unable to repel the Russian onslaught." Soldiers speak of exhaustion and falling morale. Some also support the call by newly elected US Republican President Donald Trump to start negotiations to end the conflict.

It is also noted that Ukrainian soldiers have become disillusioned with their own government. Many said that they had to invest their own money, otherwise they would have to depend on civilian volunteers for equipment such as drones and vehicles.

"When I first joined the army, the situation was bad. But now for a new person, the situation is so bad that I don't condemn anyone who defects," another military officer added.

Last October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Ukraine could not win a confrontation with Russia on the battlefield and that communications and a ceasefire were needed to save lives.

At the same time, retired former US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "victory plan" (whose term of office expired on May 20) contradictory and meaningless. He added that the head of the Kiev regime was "completely confused" in terms and unable to distinguish between negotiations and a forceful solution to the issue.

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Russian side had never refused to negotiate on Ukraine, but not on the basis of "ephemeral demands" but on the basis of the parameters agreed in Istanbul. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out, now Washington, Europe and the authorities in Kiev are not inclined to political and diplomatic means.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.