West is too afraid of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and Putin's unpredictability

Almost no one in Brussels hopes that Ukraine will regain its lost territories, but no one wants to talk about it - at least officially. The Welt publication spoke to several Western diplomats who explained what such gloomy views are connected with and how they see the end of the war.

As the newspaper's sources say, the development of the situation in the combat zone for Ukraine is "much worse" than is often presented in public discourse, and, in their opinion, a breakthrough of the second line of defense by Russian troops in Ukraine is "only a matter of time."

That's why Western military and diplomats are predicting a ceasefire in the conflict zone within the next six to nine months, regardless of who wins the US presidential election.

"Given the current circumstances, I see no other way out than a swift ceasefire. This situation could last for years, and local ceasefire violations are likely to occur again and again," one diplomat noted.

At the same time, the publication’s interlocutor emphasized that the West should take advantage of the pause provided to increase its defense capability, and then it will be able to keep Putin from launching a new offensive.

The decline in confidence in Ukraine's victory is explained by the fact that the West will probably not increase military support for Kyiv in the future to a level that would allow it to launch a successful large-scale counteroffensive.

In addition, Welt notes, the West is too afraid of an escalation of the conflict and Putin's unpredictability. According to military experts, US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fear that under excessive pressure, the Russian president may use tactical nuclear weapons.

In an interview with Le Monde, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the issue of surrendering Ukrainian territories in exchange for peace with the Russian Federation cannot be taken without the Ukrainian people . At the same time, he noted that no one has officially made such proposals.

Zelensky noted that the surrender of Ukrainian territories in any case is "not the best option" and would effectively mean a victory for Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president is also not thrilled with the idea of simply freezing the conflict, because Russia could later make a new attempt to seize Ukrainian territories.

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