The possible failure of the Ukrainian offensive, which has been announced for several months, will strengthen the position of Western politicians who advocate reconciliation with Russia. And it will likely lead to some kind of agreement similar to the one in Minsk. such an opinion expression Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in an interview with the Financial Times.
“They (supporters of the diplomatic option to resolve the conflict – socialbites.ca) are everywhere: in Washington, in Berlin, in Paris, in London. They will try to do something creative in the spirit of Minsk-3,” he said.
He said that Kiev does not like that both the West and the Ukrainians themselves perceive the upcoming offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as a kind of point of no return. And if the Ukrainian troops fail, they will lose the support of the Western allies, who will begin to press Kiev to reconcile with Moscow.
“We must firmly resist the perception that the counterattack is the decisive battle of the war. If (attack) is seen as decisive, but does not lead to 100% liberation of our area, then some people may say that this is the final decisive battle, and now we have a chance to consider an alternative scenario. “There is no alternative for Kiev but the full restoration of its territorial integrity,” he said.
Kuleba believes that the West’s refusal to increase military support to Ukraine (for example, the delivery of longer-range weapons) cannot be explained by a possible escalation of the conflict. “The escalation argument is not an argument, it’s an excuse,” said the Foreign Minister.
According to him, Kiev always heard these arguments before the question of expanding military support arose – NATO was afraid of being drawn into a direct conflict with Russia or the threat of nuclear weapons. And this argument “failed” every time.
During his meeting with a British newspaper, the minister also touched upon the issue of China-Ukraine relations and Beijing’s possible support for Moscow. According to Kuleba, his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, assured in early March that the PRC would not supply arms to Russia. And Kiev has yet to have any evidence of such deliveries taking place.
As for China’s peace initiatives, Beijing has yet to decide on specific actions, such as investing in mediation between Moscow and Kiev or starting to provide military assistance to Russia, according to the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
“China is testing the ground in terms of the peace process to see if it’s time to play its role,” the minister said.
The FT noted that Beijing still has not responded to requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, despite China’s attempts to position itself as a potential peacekeeper.
At the same time, the head of the Zaporozhye people’s movement “We are with Russia” Vladimir Rogov told RIA Novosti on March 30 that the Ukrainian Armed Forces is actively pulling Western weapons and armored vehicles to the line of contact in Zaporozhye. area.
“Ukrainian troops are actively assembling Western armored vehicles and weapons. This includes tanks, including the howitzer M777, HIMARS, the French AMX-10RC. Everything was handed over to the Zaporozhye front,” he said. According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine can fully use these forces for a counterattack.
Both Ukrainian officials and Western politicians and the media have repeatedly reported that the Zaporozhye region could be the direction of Ukraine’s offensive planned for spring-summer 2023. In particular, plans were given for an attack on Melitopol via Ugledar with further advance to the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Thus, Kiev can block the land isthmus leading to the Crimea and Kherson region, gain the opportunity to attack the Crimean bridge and thus completely cut off the peninsula’s supply from Russia. However, on March 27, The Wall Street Journal, analyzing the possible offensive plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, wrote that Russia has strengthened its positions in the Crimea in the Zaporozhye direction and is probably ready to repel such an attack. .