Rough time for the Ukraine President as reality sets in on his countries conflict with Russia…..
His top military comander has admitted what anyone following the conflict knows….
The Ukraine military is NOT mnaking progress offensively against Russia forces….
The US is a a crossroads in sending military and other aid to the Ukraine, made worst by the Israeli attacks against Hamas in Gaza…
While Zelensky tries to hold off sitting down to cut a deal with Russia to end his conflict?
The US and Western countries have begun to push for that very thing, which would mean that the Ukraine WOULD have to likely never get back the Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk …
Could Ukraine hold out for EU memebership and the stationing of NATO and US forces IN their country as a way to compromise?….(And hand Russian President Putin something he DEARLY does NOT want to happen?
The office of President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday chastised Ukraine’s top military commander for publicly declaring the war at a stalemate, suggesting the comments would help the Russian invasion. It was a striking public rebuke that signaled an emerging rift between the military and civilian leadership at an already challenging time for Ukraine.
Speaking on national television, a deputy head of the office of the president, Ihor Zhovkva, said Gen. Valery Zaluzhny’s assertion that the fight against Russia was deadlocked “eases the work of the aggressor,” adding that the comments stirred “panic” among Ukraine’s Western allies.
At the same time, Mr. Zelensky disputed the general’s characterization of the fighting. “Time has passed, people are tired, regardless of their status, and this is understandable,” he said at a news conference on Saturday, adding: “But this is not a stalemate, I emphasize this once again.”
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The emerging fissure between the general and the president comes as Ukraine is struggling in its war effort, militarily and diplomatically. Its operations along the roughly 600-mile-long trench line have failed to produce any advances, while resulting in high casualties on both sides, and Ukraine is facing intensified Russian attacks in the East. At the same time, skepticism about Ukraine aid has increased in some European capitals and among members of the Republican Party in the United States.
Ukraine’s leadership is also worried that the attention of Western allies has shifted to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and away from its war with Russia. “The war in the Middle East, this conflict takes away the focus,” Mr. Zelensky said on Saturday…..
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reaffirmed his stance that this is not the time to negotiate with Russia, and he also denied that any western leaders were pressuring him to do so. Zelenskiy also rejected remarks by his own commander-in-chief that the war had reached a stalemate.
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Talks are under way to outline what Ukraine might have to give up to secure a peace deal with Russia, US news channel NBC reported earlier, citing a senior US official and another former senior official who briefed the network about the tentative plans.
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The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, arrived in Kyiv on Saturday ahead of a report the EU is expected to present next week about Ukraine’s progress in its membership bid. She said the EU would stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and that the country had made “excellent progress” towards EU accession.
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Ukraine attacked Russia’s shipyard in the Crimean port city of Kerch on Saturday, damaging one ship, the Russian defence ministry said. Of 15 missiles fired, 13 were destroyed in the air, while one hit a ship, said the ministry. It did not give the ship’s name. A Ukrainian official said the Russian Navy stationed one of its most modern ships there; a carrier of the Kalibr cruise missile.
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Russian forces are now focused on capturing Avdiivka’s coking plant, according to the town’s mayor Vitaliy Barabash. He said audio transmission intercepts had revealed that Moscow was now seeking to secure it. But UK intelligence suggests that Russia has incurred heavy losses in its assault on the Donbas town.
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Ukraine said it has filed criminal charges against Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, in absentia for “justifying” Russia’s invasion. Moscow’s most influential spiritual leader, a fervent supporter of president Vladimir Putin, has called the war a historic battle against the “forces of evil”.
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Zelenskiy appointed a new commander of the country’s special forces, a unit known for conducting military operations in Moscow-held territories, but the officer replaced in the shuffle said he had not been told why.
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Ukraine’s newly appointed head of the defence industry says he is working tirelessly to ramp up local arms production and wants to turn the country into a weapons production hub for the west…..