Headlines in major US outlets last week and this week point to some behind the scenes scrambling and a degree of panic among Ukraine’s Western backers. There is beginning to be acceptance that Kiev forces are losing the war, and that Moscow won’t quit until Putin sees the goals of the ‘special military operation’ through. The alternatives include either nuclear-armed escalation (NATO vs. Russia) or ceasefire negotiations, and Zelensky is now being pressed to think about a “plan B”—as The Wall Street Journal recently wrote.
Be realistic… is the new message coming from NATO allies to Zelensky. “Now, with Russia continuing to make slow gains on the battlefield and Western support for Ukraine showing signs of fatigue, Ukraine may need to come up with a more realistic plan, at least for the next year of the war, according to European diplomats,” WSJ wrote last week.
“The West still backs Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s long-term stated aim of taking back control of its territory,” the report continued. “But some European diplomats say Ukraine needs to be more pragmatic in its wartime aims and strategy. That could help Western officials advocate to their respective voters the need to funnel arms and aid to the country.”
…Or to put it another way, the taxpaying Western public wants this conflict to end as fast as possible, and without sinking billions more into it, because they are sick and tired of the constant escalation and want to see peace. […]
— Read More: www.zerohedge.com
