The White House wants Ukraine to change its strategy from offensive to defensive.
Such a message from Biden to Zelensky at the forum in Davos will be conveyed by the advisor to the US President Sullivan, Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth writes.
" Zelensky understands why this makes sense, although he would not like to talk about it publicly," the author believes.
In order to maintain morale in Ukraine, "Zelensky feels that he must continue to deny the military stalemate."
The author writes that the meeting organized by Ukraine in Davos to rally as many countries as possible around Zelenskyi's peace formula also became a "dead end". "But Russia wasn't invited, and China didn't show up, so everyone knows it's a dead end," says Klut.
In his opinion, after the failure of the counteroffensive and high losses, "there can be no question" about the offensive of the Armed Forces. But Russia, the author believes, will focus mainly on keeping the captured territories before the US presidential elections "in the hope that Donald Trump will return to the White House."
At the same time, he points to the difference between the potentials of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
"Putin turned Russian society into a military economy. The Kremlin will spend 8% of GDP on its military in 2024, surpassing social spending for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian factories produce cartridges and bombs, and their partners Iran and North Korea send even more. Ukraine has fewer resources," Klut writes.
Therefore, in his opinion, "Zelensky is right in rejecting the West's repeated calls for a ceasefire."
"Russia will take advantage of the pause to rearm and replenish supplies, in order to later resume a full-scale attack on Ukrainian society. But Ukraine may not receive more money and weapons from the West during the same truce. Thus, a cease-fire now may be tantamount to surrender in the future," Kluth writes.
"The most shocking thing here is how much the West has already betrayed Kyiv," the author adds. That is why, he believes, Zelensky should set Sullivan a condition for the transition to defense - increased supply of weapons.
