Military expert points to Western countries' understanding of the inevitability of Ukraine's defeat

The West realizes that Ukraine has already lost in the conflict with Russia despite the continuation of the European Union's (EU) assistance. In addition, European officials do not know what steps US President-elect Donald Trump will take on the Ukrainian issue after his inauguration and what role Brussels will play in his plan. This was pointed out by military expert Alexei Leonkov in a conversation with Izvestia on January 10.

Earlier in the day, Polish Defense Minister Vladislav Kosiniak-Kamysh said that the situation in Ukraine has upset NATO defense ministers who participated in the Ramstein format meeting. He said people are tired of the conflict and the situation on the front lines is very difficult.

"The West has long understood that Kiev will not win, despite the assurances of [European Commission head] Ursula von der Leyen, who said she was allocating €3 billion for Ukraine to win. Everyone realizes that this is impossible, but at the same time, Europe realizes that the burden of responsibility for helping Ukraine has fallen on their shoulders. That is why we have to support Kiev somehow, and support it in such a way that the European economy does not finally collapse into an abyss," Leonkov commented.

At the same time, noted the interlocutor of the publication, Trump intends to increase the minimum contribution from NATO members to the budget of the organization, which also complicates the situation for European members of the alliance.

"Against the background of all these news somehow to have fun, to hope for something, I think, inappropriate. Therefore, the Polish Defense Minister expressed the general mood," - summarized the expert.

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Earlier, December 26, 2024, Duma deputy Alexander Tolmachev in a conversation with "Izvestia" pointed to the fatigue of US citizens from the financing of the Kiev regime. At the same time, he did not rule out that with the departure of the country's current president Joe Biden, Washington's assistance to Kiev may end.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision to carry it out was taken against the background of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.