Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's former commander-in-chief and current ambassador to the U.K., said it is almost impossible to escape the state of "protracted" war with Russia in a speech at the Chatham House on Oct. 17, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter.
Zaluzhnyi reiterated that back in 2023, the West did not provide Kyiv with a sufficient number of weapons, which is why Ukraine failed to achieve "significant success in defeating Russia" during the counteroffensive.
"Consequentially, we ended up in a state of protracted war. In my personal opinion, a way out of this protracted war seems... almost impossible," he said.
In November 2023, The Economist magazine published an interview with Zaluzhnyi and an op-ed by the general, in which he characterized the state of the war as a "stalemate."
The comment contrasted the outlook usually offered by President Volodymyr Zelensky and his administration in public comments and reportedly triggered a discord between the two.
Zaluzhnyi warned that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine was moving to a "positional" stage. This new stage is characterized by "static and attritional fighting" that will allow Russia to restore its military power.
Throughout 2024, Ukraine has faced a challenging situation in defending the front line, particularly in Donetsk Oblast, where Russia has consistently concentrated its offensive potential.
Following Ukraine's withdrawal from Vuhledar in early October, Russian forces have been focusing their efforts against the Donetsk Oblast towns of Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Kurakhove, where outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian soldiers are slowly losing ground under Russian pressure.
Martin Fornusek
(Updated: )
