For some time now, the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate. However, just last week, Ukraine faced a significant setback as it was compelled to retreat from the strategic town of Avdiivka following months of intense conflict, marking its most significant defeat since the fall of Bakhmut in May. We look back at two years of the conflict.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Well, let's face it, I mean, this is, you know, if I may sort of use the analogy of
00:06 David and Goliath, that Ukraine, which of course, you know, not that long ago was part
00:10 of the USSR, the Soviet Union, you know, one of the satellite states. So, you know, it's
00:17 a big country in relative terms, certainly compared to sort of many European countries,
00:22 but compared to sort of the might of the Russian state, it's got a sort of big issue. And we
00:27 know that, of course, that sort of two years ago, this was a conflict that sort of Putin
00:31 believed was going to be solved. Yeah, he was going to sort of come in, take over, and
00:34 it was all going to be done, dusted with in sort of days, if not sort of a couple of weeks.
00:38 For some time now, the war has reached a stalemate. However, just last week, Ukraine faced a significant
00:45 setback as it was compelled to retreat from the strategic town of Advika following months
00:51 of intense conflict, marking its most significant defeat since the fall of Bagmut back in May.
00:57 So, yeah, one side gains a bit, the other side gains a bit. But as I say, there's not
01:03 much sort of traction. The big problem is I think there is a sort of fatigue, you know,
01:07 it's been rumbling on, or it doesn't sort of get the sort of the press attention it
01:11 did. And of course, you know, what we've sort of seen in sort of the recent months is more
01:15 attention focused on sort of Gaza and what's going on there. So it's, as I say, I think
01:20 that there is a sort of view that sort of maybe the best thing that sort of Ukraine
01:24 can do is to sue for peace. But I fully understand the sort of the argument from Zelensky that,
01:29 you know, you cannot sort of sue for peace with somebody whose words you do not trust
01:33 because, of course, you know, Putin has proved that, you know, you say one thing and do something
01:36 else.
01:37 Much needed funds from the United States are in limbo having cleared the Senate but awaiting
01:42 approval from the House. Meanwhile, the unity between the European Union and NATO is showing
01:48 signs of strain with major decisions delayed and a risk of being vetoed.
01:53 So the difficulty is two years on what's going to happen. We also have the potential prospect
01:59 of one, if there will be a presidential election in America and the sort of the way the opinion
02:04 polls are going there, it'll be a certain Donald Trump. And let's face it, we've seen
02:08 Donald Trump, who is very partisan to Putin in a way which is very peculiar. And it's
02:12 interesting that sort of Putin said he'd prefer to see a Biden presidency. Now, I think that's
02:18 just playing mind games, as it were. I suspect he'd much prefer sort of Trump.
02:23 Trump will do it. He's claimed, you know, like many sort of on the right of his party,
02:28 which of course is now effectively a right wing, also has been a right wing party. But
02:31 of course, particularly in recent years has become ever more rightwards that they will
02:36 sort of start funding to Ukraine. So there are big difficulties about the sort of the
02:39 armaments. And indeed, you know, that may sort of undermine the sort of campaign, certainly
02:43 to defend and retake territory, which, of course, is the sort of the espoused aim of
02:47 Zelensky, particularly sort of Crimea. That war doesn't look like any time soon.
02:53 While no influential Western figures advocate abandoning Kiev, there's a growing sense of
02:59 weariness as the expenses mount.
03:02 (sighs)