Ukrainian President Zelensky has drawn attention to reducing Western support as Washington's attention is increasingly focused on the Middle East and the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A recent stopgap funding bill signed by the POTUS contains no provisions for further assistance to Ukraine.
Zelensky's words appears to be "both symbolic and real," as Ukraine's "hopes of victory, that were already dim, would falter in oblivion" if the constant flow of weapons and munitions to Kiev from the West were to cease, argued Jacques Sapir, a director at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris.
According to him, supporting Ukraine has never been a "top priority" for the Western powers, no matter what declarations on the subject they made in the past.
"Ukrainian leaders choose to believe words and not fact in spring 2022," Sapir said. "But a shooting war is not waged by words but real hardware. This is now the day of reckoning for the Ukrainian leadership."
Meanwhile, Paul E. Vallely, a retired US Army major general and chairman of Stand Up America US Foundation, noted that several European powers have ramped up efforts to supply Ukraine with munitions even as the United States turns its attention towards Israel and the Gaza Strip crisis.
He did point out, however, that one of Europe's major players, Germany, has been "lagging in supporting Ukraine to a great degree," even as Berlin recently promised to "double that support to $8.5 billion in 2024 and also deliver crucial air defense systems to Zelensky."
"So what they say and what they do may be two different things," Vallely mused.
Having voiced his skepticism over the US' and Europe's ability to deliver on their most recent promises, Vallely also suggested that the situation on the battlefield may soon worsen for Kiev as "winter moves forward and Russian offensive operations move forward."