The narrative on Ukraine is changing and now it seems that the international press is changing the version of the facts, Zelensky takes a back seat and Putin is in the foreground. Let’s see some excerpts from articles from the most important newspapers from last week.
The New York Times in a recent article wrote: “Ukraine claims that these aircraft (F-16 ed) will change the situation at the front. However, US officials have long argued that tanks, munitions and especially well-trained ground forces are far more important in this armed conflict, where fighting is mostly done on the ground. Western aircraft are expensive and will take years to train enough airmen to provide air cover. By requesting the deployment of fighter jets, Ukraine is also feeling the ticking of the political clock, say former and current officials in Kiev and Washington. Zelensky is motivated by a desire to get as many F-16s as possible before the start of elections in Europe and the United States, as after them countries that have promised fighter planes may change their minds.
The Financial Times. “The most important factor for the Kremlin is time. His calculation is clearly that the Russian economy will have to hold out until the political winds change in the West, especially in the United States. With less than 15 months to go until next year’s US elections, Moscow clearly hopes enthusiasm for funding Ukraine wanes and the president and Congress drop in the polls. If you remove or reduce the military and budgetary support of the United States and its allies to Ukraine, the prospects for its continued resistance will be very small if any. Even with current support, Ukraine’s GDP decreased by 10.5% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2022.
For the Wall Street Journal. “Putin has put strong points in the Middle East. Thanks to his support, Bashar al-Assad chuckles contemptuously at American threats in Syria. Longtime allies of the United States continue to intensify cooperation with Russia. The UAE has resisted pressure from Washington to deepen trade ties with Moscow. Iran is fully integrating into Russian military-technical cooperation structures. And Beijing’s ties with Moscow remain strong, despite Western hopes that Xi Jinping will wash his hands of his main ally, who has become a pariah. China is buying up whatever Russian oil and gas it can get, and in exchange it is supplying significant amounts of advanced dual-use technology that helps Putin keep both the state economy and special operations afloat in Ukraine.”
Finally, there is much anticipation in the States for The Last Politician by Franklin Faure which will be released in the United States in a few days. The author describes in his book in detail the first meeting between Biden and Zelenskyj. The book is based on “unprecedented access to Biden’s inner circle of advisers.”
According to the first rumors, the book says that Zelensky made Biden very angry during their first meeting at the White House in 2021 with a request to immediately accept Ukraine into NATO and “an absurd analysis of the situation”. Also in the book it is written that even Zelenskyj’s most vocal supporters in the Biden administration admitted that President Zelensky exaggerated in the meeting.
It seems that the Ukrainian president, after applying to join NATO, began to argue that the organization itself was actually a relic of the past and that its importance was declining. He allegedly told Biden that France and Germany would leave NATO.
Graziella Giangiulio
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