Almost four years after the full-scale invasion of Russian forces in Ukraine, the situation on the battlefield and the diplomatic front is critical, writes the British newspaper "Independent", quoted by BTA.
A large part of the residents of the Ukrainian capital Kiev are subjected to Russian air strikes every night - attacks that target civilian energy infrastructure in the middle of winter. The intensity of the attacks, the damage Ukraine is suffering from a lack of air defenses, and the winter temperatures have made the situation much worse than in recent years, the publication points out.
The human aspect, as always, is the most striking: preschoolers who already know the difference between defensive and offensive fire; a lawmaker who is glad that his family did not have enough money to buy an apartment in a neighboring high-rise building, which turned out to be more vulnerable than his ground-floor apartment in an older building; only two hours a day of hot water, heating and electricity - a situation that is both bad for health and demoralizing, describes "The Independent". If this is the relatively privileged life of an MP in Kiev, then the conditions for other people, including those living in the east, in the fighting zone, must be many times worse, the British newspaper points out.
However, the Ukrainians continue to fight, demonstrating an admirable, almost superhuman determination not to cede territory to the Russian aggressor, emphasizes "Independent".
The situation is not only critical on the battlefield, the publication notes. It seems that the diplomacy, which began in the early days of US President Donald Trump's second term, is also at a potentially critical moment. The Munich Security Conference this weekend outlined both the dangers and the dim prospects for peace.
This time last year, Europe was shaken by a speech at the same Munich conference by US Vice President J.D. Vance, which sounded like a series of accusations against Europe. This year, the most senior American representative at the conference was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose tone was more conciliatory, the Independent reports. Rubio stressed that the US commitment to Europe remains intact.
However, he made it clear that there are two stark realities that remain unchanged - that there will be no change in the demand for Europe to take more responsibility for its own defense, and that Ukraine is fundamentally a European problem and will be entirely a European problem if US-led diplomacy fails.
The discussions on the podium and on the sidelines of Munich highlighted not only the shaky and inconsistent nature of Trump's so-far unsuccessful attempts to bring peace to Ukraine, but also the extent of Europe's exclusion despite valiant attempts by European leaders to be heard in the early months of Trump's second term, the British newspaper points out. Now they find themselves on the sidelines again, but their solidarity is weaker, with disagreements over how much support can be provided to Ukraine and whether to open a channel with Moscow.
As is often the case, Europe’s position was most convincingly put forward by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Now that Europe is effectively paying for Ukraine’s defense, which includes providing funds to buy weapons from the United States, Europeans deserve a say in all the talks and in what the next steps will be, he said. It is a position that is hard to argue with, but one that could backfire on the Europeans, who could bear the brunt of the responsibility if Trump decides to back down, writes "The Independent".
This makes the diplomatic situation as dangerous for Ukraine as the increasingly deteriorating situation in Kiev and elsewhere, the British newspaper emphasizes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes the US is key to achieving peace because, in his opinion, only they have the power to implement the security guarantees that Ukraine needs. However, the increasing distancing of the US government from the whole process was clearly visible at the Munich conference, concludes "The Independent".