None of the members of the trio that Volodymyr Zelensky has just received had visited kyiv until now. For different reasons or Emmanuel Macron, neither Olaf Scholz, nor Mario Draghi they had fulfilled a ritual that has become habitual since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in an exercise that combines the international self-promotion of each ruler with solidarity with the Ukrainian cause and, in some cases, with a real support (translated into weapons) to resist the Russian push.
In this case, the context in which the visit should be framed is that of the meeting scheduled for the next day 26 of the G7, in which those three rulers will also participate. All this at a time when the situation on the ground points to a prolongation of the conflict that is going to test both the willingness of Vladimir Putin to insist on his efforts to eliminate all Ukrainian identity, like that of Zelensky for resisting and that of the countries that support kyiv for maintaining and even tightening sanctions on Russia and continuing to supply weapons to Ukraine.
There can be little doubt that Putin will do everything possible not to leave Ukraine empty-handed. Despite the fact that the offensive is not advancing as Moscow might have initially assumed, it is a fact that it is gaining ground; which suggests that Russia, taking advantage of its greater demographic and military potential, It will continue to insist through military means in a war that seeks to impose itself on its enemies by exhaustion. With Crimea in their hands and control of the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, which allows them to block their opponents’ access to the sea, control of the entire Donbas seems to be the main objective to be achieved in this phase of the conflict. , without ruling out, as you just confirmed again Dmitry Medvedev, that seeks to take over the whole of Ukraine.
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For his part, Zelensky is no less convinced that he will not only be able to withstand the onslaught, but that victory is possible. The combat morale is amply demonstrated from the first day of the invasion; but it is well known that with its own forces -both measures in human numbers and in defense material and in industrial capacity to sustain the bet- it is impossible to imagine that the Russian troops are going to be expelled from the entire Ukrainian territory. Therefore, unlike what Moscow may plan, kyiv needs conclusive results in the shorter term and only with Western support can it hope to avoid defeat.
Where there are more doubts is in the degree of Western involvement in support of Ukraine. Hence, the aforementioned visit is surrounded by unknowns, waiting to know if it should be noted on the list of signs of support, guaranteeing that there is still the will to maintain and increase the sanctions against Russia and to deliver the weapons that kyiv demands. desperately for a long time, or if, on the contrary, what these illustrious visitors have come for is to pressure Zelensky to give in to Putin. If one attends to the messages that have come from Paris summarized in that “we must understand Putin & rdquor; – and the ambiguities of Berlin -with promises to deliver weapons that never finish arriving- it is immediate to assume that the visit really seeks to convince Putin Zelensky that he will not receive everything he asks for -Kiev maintains that he has only received 10% of everything he has asked for- and that it is in your best interest to accept a partial loss of its territory to achieve peace. We will see.