However, Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that no such scenario is on his table. No wonder, since the Ukrainian president cannot afford to give in to any Russian demands. Since the outbreak of the war, too many people have died for the glory that the Ukrainian president envisions, too many children have been orphaned and too many parents have lost their kids. According to a recently leaked Pentagon document, Ukraine has lost some 20 thousand soldiers on the battlefield, with over 100 thousand wounded, and thousands of civilians injured or killed. No one can verify how big these numbers are in fact, but it seems certain that they are probably much higher.
One side is running out of time, the other side has plenty
Zoltan Kiszelly, director of political analysis at Szazadveg, told Magyar Nemzet that Zelensky is shouldering enormous pressure not only from within the country, but also from outside.
He has to come up with something now, not only because the Ukrainians have already made too many sacrifices, but because the West expects the country to reconquer as much territory as possible before the NATO summit. Until then, NATO member states should put together a security guarantee. That's what is taking place now, there's a month to go. This is the huge pressure from the outside that's devolving on Mr Zelensky. He has to prove why he has been supplied with weapons and he must achieve a result that will freeze the conflict before the US presidential elections,
the expert told our newspaper.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is in a far more comfortable position to keep events on the radar and under control until the upcoming Russian presidential race. Currently, he enjoys close to eighty-percent support, Mr Kiszelly said, adding that Mr Putin has to avoid coming under social pressure between now and the election. Unlike his Ukrainian counterpart, the Russian president has plenty of time, because the Americans certainly don't want to raise a new army or send troops for a while, and the Europeans will not be able to supply weapons for some time because they have no stocks," Zoltan Kiszelly explained. He also pointed out that
the Russians are not under time pressure, because the country is a nuclear power. The pressure weighing on Putin is not as heavy as the one on the Ukrainian president, because the Russian head of state has to make sure that the conflict stays on the radar until next March, and then he can see how much loss Ukrainian troops have suffered. He will also wait to see who will win the next US presidential elections, and if Europe can send weapons.
The expert also told our paper that all attacks, explosions and actions that take place in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine are essentially playing into Putin's hand, highlighting that
this is psychological warfare, these are not partisan attacks, but actions carried out by special squads. This is called the Pearl Harbor moment.
Coincidences rarely occur in war
The attack on the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Russian-controlled Kherson, causing a breach in the dam of the reservoir, is perhaps no coincidence either. Earlier on Monday, the Russians reported that Ukraine's armed forces had launched a large-scale offensive on five fronts in the southern Donetsk region, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainians were ready for a counter-offensive.
