Winter in Ukraine promises to be dark and cruel. A little less than a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Ukrainians fear that their war will be forgotten. The authorities in Kiev are also worried about the future of support from the United States, while their American ally is struggling to secure international aid to Ukraine before an American Congress divided on the issue.
Thursday, November 2, the House of Representatives also adopted military aid of 14.3 billion dollars (13.4 billion euros) in favor of Israel, while President Joe Biden is calling for a common envelope of 105 billion dollars bringing together Israel, Ukraine and partners in Asia, in order to counter Republican elected officials who are reluctant to maintain American support for Kiev. Beyond the supposed “fatigue” of the West, twenty months after the start of the Russian invasion, the situation around and in the Gaza Strip seems to have temporarily eclipsed Ukraine from the West’s priorities.
“This is not an online game”
“ “The world’s attention has been diverted to what is happening in the Middle East,” laments Olexiy Haran, professor of political science at the prestigious Mohyla University in kyiv. “We must act pragmatically. Because with this new conflict, and all its consequences, we find ourselves facing many new challenges,” alarms Solomiia Bobrovska, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, and member of the committee for national security and defense. “I understand that it is difficult to continue following, that people get tired, she continues. But this is not an online game. It’s about the world in which people, families live… What we’re experiencing is not normal, it’s abnormal. »
In recent days, as media coverage of Ukraine has narrowed around the world to focus on the Middle East, two articles published by the international press have had a strong impact in the country, as an additional wake-up call. . The first, published by the American magazine Time, on October 30, describes a terribly defeatist atmosphere within the Ukrainian presidencybetween anger and disillusionment at the drop in support from allied countries. “The most frightening thing is that part of the world has become accustomed to the war in Ukraine, said Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted in the article. War exhaustion spreads like a wave. We see it in the United States, in Europe,” continues the Ukrainian leader.
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