Page 46 - bne magazine September 2023

46 I Eastern Europe bne September 2023
Ukraine's counter-offensive has been going on for several months, but with little progress and a mounting death toll, fatigue amongst Ukraine's allies is growing as the conflict looks increasingly unwinnable. / bne IntelliNews
Ukraine war fatigue is growing Ben Aris in Berlin
Fatigue with the war in Ukraine is growing louder as the war in Ukraine drags on with no end in sight.
Western elites are still committed to supporting Kyiv until the bitter end. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on August 18 that Nato will support Ukraine “until it wins”. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a Russia hawk, has repeatedly said that the EU will do “whatever it takes” to support Ukraine, and she has been instrumental in pushing through numerous large financial support packages. And US President Joe Biden repeated that the US will “never give up” its support for Ukraine.
However, both the public and some Western politicians are becoming increasingly uncertain of the wisdom of continuing what is beginning to look more like another “forever war” and
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pouring more billions into the insatiable Ukrainian military black hole.
And a possible ceasefire deal that includes Ukraine conceding some territory to Russia is clearly being discussed amongst Nato allies. Stian Jenssen, chief of staff to Nato Secretary General Stoltenberg, put the cat amongst the pigeons by suggesting that Ukraine could consider ceding part
of its territory to Russia in exchange for Nato membership, a statement he quickly walked back after an outcry from Kyiv.
A number of negative reports have recently appeared in the Western mainstream press. The New York Times (NYT) reported on August 18 the total number of dead and injured in the war has topped 500,000, according to US intelligence services – more than the Vietnam and Afghan wars combined. The number of war deaths is usually
a taboo subject as Kyiv has made the casualty figures a state secret.
US General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been publicly sceptical on the chances of Ukraine winning the war and repeated his scepticism again recently.
“I had said a couple of months ago that this offensive was going to be long, it’s going to be bloody it’s going to be slow,” he told The Post. “And that’s exactly what it is: long, bloody and slow, and it’s a very, very difficult fight.”
Milley said that there might be a diplomatic solution that would completely expel Russia from Ukraine, but implied that he didn’t believe there was a military solution.
Since the war, Ukraine has received a record $66.2bn in aid from the US, but some in Congress are becoming tired