I want to make it clear right now – I am not going to announce the winner in the war in Ukraine, this is just about the special nomination ’For the boldest statement regarding the war in Ukraine’.
The second anniversary of the war in Ukraine offered an opportunity for leading politicians and other influential figures from around the world to reflect on the developments of the past two years and to express their views on the future.
’31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion’, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during the press conference following the Ukraine – Year 2024 conference. ’A total of 180,000 Russians have been killed’, he added.
In Vladimir Putin’s interpretation, the number of Ukrainian military killed during the fights is precisely 444,000. What a difference! What else can be added to the address of the Kremlin, which two years ago, on the eve of the invasion, denied the existence of plans to attack Ukraine and still calls the war in Ukraine a ’special military operation’…?
Marking the second anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the New York Times published an article on the relations between the US and Ukrainian security services. According to The New York Times, the details of the partnership between the Ukrainian and American intelligence agencies have been a closely guarded secret for a decade.
’Now these intelligence networks are more important than ever, as Russia is on the offensive and Ukraine is more dependent on sabotage and long-range missile strikes that require spies far behind enemy lines. And they are increasingly at risk. If Republicans in Congress end military funding to Kyiv, the CIA may have to scale back.’ To try to reassure Ukrainian leaders, William J. Burns, the CIA director, made a secret visit to Ukraine in late February which was his 10th visit since the invasion. Recently, however, with the delay in the approval of the US aid package, Ukrainian intelligence officials have been asking their American colleagues whether the US is about to abandon them, The NYT notes.
Commemorating the second anniversary of the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine, Pope Francis called for conditions to be created for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. ’There have been so many victims, injuries, destruction, suffering, and tears over this terribly long period, the end of which is still not in sight! This is a war that is not only devastating this region of Europe but is also creating a global wave of fear and hatred’., he said in his speech.
The most meaningful statement was undoubtably made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who did not rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine in the future, emphasising that there is currently no consensus among allies. After Macron’s statement, a number of countries stated that they are not considering the idea of sending their troops to Ukraine, in addition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also announced that the Alliance has no plans to send troops to Ukraine. ’The Member States agree only to provide Ukraine with the necessary assistance for as long as necessary’, the European Commission said in a press release.
From the above statements and articles one may come to a conclusion that the sad and tragic fact that the war in Ukraine is now entering its third year does not change the fundamentals of the positions and plans of Ukraine, Russia and the West, i.e. Zelensky continues to lie to his own people, Putin continues to live in a parallel reality, the Pope, thank God, remains pro-peace, and the major players in the US are increasingly divided as the presidential election campaign continues.
However, in light of the abovementioned statement by French President Macron, the leader of one of Europe’s most influential states, it is unclear whether he was serious about the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine or whether he just used it as a rhetorical shortcut which, he believed would drag Europe out of the ’Ukraine fatigue’ which, according to the statements of the Ukrainian leadership does not in fact exist…
Although the award for the boldest statement went to Macron this time, he certainly crossed that red line that should not be crossed.
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