Ukraine conflict to end this year

The hostilities will subside and West will admit mistakes, predicts Ramzan Kadyrov

MOSCOW: The Russian military operation against Ukraine will be wrapped up by the end of the year, according to the head of Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. He also predicted that the West would be forced to admit its mistakes regarding relations with Moscow.

“European nations will acknowledge that their actions were wrong. The West will kneel. And, as usual, European states will have to cooperate with Russia in all spheres. There can be and will be no other outcome,” Kadyrov said in an interview on February 7.

Units of ethnic Chechens have been on the frontline in Ukraine since the start of the campaign. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised them in September for showing “valor and exceptional courage,” noting the tradition of military service alongside other peoples from their nation.

Kadyrov regularly posts videos showcasing Chechen troops in action and reports on their progress on the ground. On occasion, he has publicly questioned some of the decisions taken by the Russian military leadership, including the withdrawal of troops from Kharkov Region in September.

At the time, the Chechen leader urged the Russian Defence Ministry to adopt a bolder offensive strategy. The ministry explained the partial pullout as helping to minimise Russian battlefield losses.

Moscow deployed troops against Ukraine in late February 2022, citing the creeping expansion of NATO and Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk Agreements of 2014-15, which were intended to form a roadmap for peace in Donbass.

Russian officials have argued that the military operation preempted an attempt by Kiev to retake by force the territories that broke away from Ukraine after the 2014 armed coup in the capital. In a preceding week report, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu said during a ministry conference call said the West’s unprecedented military aid to Ukraine has failed to prevent significant losses among Kiev’s forces.

“In the first month of this year alone, their losses amounted to more than 6,500 military personnel, 26 aircraft, seven helicopters, 208 unmanned aerial vehicles, 341 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, and 40 combat vehicles with multiple launch rocket systems,” Shoigu reported. With such losses, and realising that they cannot militarily defeat Russia, Shoigu said Ukrainian authorities have continued to resort to criminal acts aimed at terrorising the civilian population in Russia’s newly acquired territories, referring to the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

“The Armed Forces of Ukraine strike at residential areas, hospitals, and places where civilians gather, and commit terrorist acts at state and social facilities,” the defense minister continued, saying such acts were evidence of the Ukrainian authorities “barbaric nature.”

Shoigu also noted that the Ukrainian side had refused to agree on a temporary ceasefire during orthodox Christmas in early January, and continued to carry out intense shelling of civilian targets during the holiday. Kiev’s forces fired over 500 artillery shells during this period, he said.

He stated that Russian forces, meanwhile, had successfully liberated a number of villages in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions despite the US and its allies’ continued efforts at prolonging the conflict. The minister vowed that Moscow would continue to ensure the safety of all Russian citizens in the newly acquired territories as well as all Ukrainian citizens that are being subjected to genocide by the Kiev “regime.”

Courtesy: RT

 Republican attitudes to Ukraine ceding territory

WASHINGTON: Four out of 10 Republicans would like Washington to do whatever it can to resolve the conflict in Ukraine quickly, even if that entails making concessions to Russia, according to a poll released on February 6.

In a survey conducted by Gallup, respondents were asked what they would “prefer the US to do in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” Overall, 31 per cent of respondents said they want Washington “to end the conflict quickly, even if Russia keeps territory.” Meanwhile, 65 per cent believe that the US should “support Ukraine reclaiming territory,” even if it prolongs the hostilities. The results are almost identical to those from a similar poll conducted in August 2022. The territories in question are the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, which overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in autumn 2022. Ukraine still claims the areas as its own, as it does with Crimea, which chose to rejoin Russia in 2014 following the Western-backed coup in Kiev.

According to the Gallop poll, 41 per cent of Republicans want the conflict to end quickly, even if it “allows Russia to keep territory.” In contrast, 53 per cent said they support Kiev’s push to capture its former regions, while acknowledging that the policy could prolong hostilities. The latter option was backed by 81% of Democrats polled. Republicans are also more inclined to believe that the US is doing too much to help Ukraine, with 47 per cent expressing that belief, as opposed to just 10% of Democrats. Overall, 28 per cent of Americans believe that the US is providing Kiev with too much assistance, while 30 per cent think that Washington isn’t doing enough. The number of people who are satisfied with the current level of US aid to Ukraine stood at 39 per cent of those polled.

Courtesy: RT