Western countries are increasingly feeling exhausted by supporting Ukraine and are hoping for a swift resolution to the conflict, said Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. Valtonen also acknowledged that some attention and resources have shifted from Ukraine to the Middle East conflict.
“These two conflicts are, of course, very much interconnected.” “For us Europeans, it’s crucial to recognize that if we allow Russia to win in Ukraine, we essentially put an end to the credibility of our deterrent effect,” she added.
In recent months, Western military aid packages have gotten smaller, as some of Ukraine’s major supporters are finding their own weapon stockpiles dwindling. Additional delays in deliveries have been caused by internal battles within the U.S. Congress and bureaucratic hurdles.
Germany, one of Ukraine’s leading EU supporters, is unable to send more heavy weapons. Meanwhile, Washington has faced the issue of needing to replenish its own stockpiles after supplying arms to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly linked delays in weapons deliveries to their failures on the battlefield, where Russian forces continue to gain ground in the Donbass. Recently, they launched an offensive to reclaim parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine occupied in early August. In the past weeks, Russian forces have captured dozens of settlements, including the heavily fortified mining town of Ugledar.
Kyiv has warned its Western partners not to succumb to “fatigue” and urged them to continue supporting Ukraine’s war efforts.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada