Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responds to journalists on Tuesday at the end of a year marked by dashed hopes of a major counter-offensive, followed by crumbling Western support and increased pressure from Russia on the front .
Last week, the Ukrainian leader carried out a diplomatic tour to convince the United States and Europe to continue sending arms and financing to Ukraine, which has been fighting the Russian invasion for almost two years.
But a majority of the American Congress, divided over an additional $61 billion, did not hear it, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a new EU aid package.
Ukraine’s allies may insist that they will not let it down, but these signals are worrying, especially after the failure of the Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in the summer.
The highly anticipated operation did not allow the hoped-for advance and Ukraine now desperately needs ammunition to hold its lines. Russia, confident despite considerable losses over the last two years, is even going on the attack again in the south and in the east.
Disappointments that the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union, decided in mid-December, is not enough to soften despite its strong symbolic significance.
It is in this difficult context that Volodymyr Zelensky will answer questions from Ukrainian and foreign journalists on Tuesday, at a time still kept secret.
Vladimir Putin took part in the same exercise on Thursday in a more favorable position. Invigorated by the concerns of kyiv and the hesitations of the West, the Russian president promised his citizens a victory in Ukraine.
The master of the Kremlin, whose re-election in March is presented as a formality, praised the successes of his troops, who “improved their positions” on almost the entire front line.
He has passed over in silence the bitter defeats of 2022 and the fragilities of his system, because the time has come for satisfaction in Moscow, which is seeing weariness set in in the West with regard to a long conflict.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights admitted on Tuesday that the world was “blasé” about the conflict in Ukraine, despite war crimes “committed mainly” by Russia.
Political divisions
Facing the Ukrainian army, Moscow’s forces are gaining ground at the end of the year.
The town of Avdiïvka, the main hot spot in the east, is the target of continuous attacks. The Russian army is also increasing pressure on Kupiansk, further north.
Near this city, it is even “in superiority, both in terms of weapons and manpower,” admitted Tuesday Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of the Ukrainian land army.
Russia also carries out daily nighttime air attacks, testing Ukraine’s air defenses.
kyiv responds by regularly sending drones towards Russian territory, far from the front, even if this has become rarer in recent months.
On Tuesday, Russian authorities said they had shot down a Ukrainian attack drone in the suburbs of Moscow, which caused no damage or injuries.
In November, the Ukrainian army was successful in taking positions on the occupied bank of the Dnieper River, but turning this push into a real breakthrough will be difficult.
Volodymyr Zelensky, faced with growing discontent before the start of the war, also suffered the resurgence of political tensions.
Recent polls show that 62% of Ukrainians trust him, compared to 84% a year ago, when the country was still celebrating the liberation of Kherson, capital of the southern region of the same name.
Support for the army, and its leader Valery Zalouzhny, however, remains very strong.
Proof of political divisions, Ukrainians demanding more money for the war effort recently demonstrated in kyiv.
Ukraine can nevertheless boast of some successes after this difficult year, the most impressive being having forced, with its naval attacks, the Russian fleet to retreat into the Black Sea.
kyiv was even able to open a maritime corridor to export its goods, particularly its wheat, ignoring threats of Russian bombing and Moscow’s supposed maritime superiority.