Russian invasion - War against Ukraine: this is the situation
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the mobilization of new soldiers is an expensive and politically sensitive issue for Ukraine. "The question of mobilization is a very sensitive one," said Selensky at a press conference in Kiev at the end of the year.
The army had requested 450,000 new soldiers. Additional mobilization on this scale would require around 500 billion hryvnia (12.2 billion euros). For him, it is also important to know which of the soldiers who have been fighting so far will be entitled to rest and home leave. A complex plan is being drawn up for this rotation.
Russia had not achieved any of its war aims in Ukraine by 2023, said Selensky. Moscow had not been able to completely conquer the Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Instead, Ukraine has largely re-established control over the western Black Sea. Ukraine has been fending off a large-scale Russian invasion since February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow on Tuesday that the initiative currently lies with his troops.
Selensky:"The USA will not betray us"
Despite the current faltering Western aid, Zelenskyi also expressed confidence that both the USA and the EU would continue to support his country in the future. "I am convinced that the USA will not betray us," he said. The head of state was also optimistic with regard to an EU financial package of 50 billion euros that is currently being blocked by Hungary: "We will find a way to get this 50 billion."
Meanwhile, Zelensky clearly rejected the idea of Ukraine joining NATO without the Russian-occupied territories. Ukraine would not agree to a split accession. "We have not received such a proposal from any of our partners. I also find it difficult to imagine what it would look like," he said.
Putin claims failure of the West
A few hours earlier in Moscow, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin had declared Western attempts to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine a failure. The goal had been shattered by the "growing strength of our armed forces and arms production", Putin said at a meeting of the Ministry of Defense in front of military officers and representatives from politics, church and society.
In the war against Ukraine, "we can say with conviction that the initiative lies with our armed forces", the Russian president claimed. In fact, the Russian army, which has already suffered several defeats since the invasion ordered by Putin almost two years ago, has also made little progress for months and, according to observers, has suffered heavy losses.
What will be important today
In Ukraine, fighting continues along the front in the east and south.
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Source: www.stern.de
