America betrayed Volodymyr Zelensky, is he left alone?

America betrayed Volodymyr Zelensky, is he left alone?

While the world public is occupied with the war between Israel and Hamas, which threatens to set the world on fire, it seems that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has, at least temporarily, gone into oblivion.

Twenty months after the beginning of the Russian invasion, about a fifth of the territory of Ukraine remains under Russian occupation. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky feels during his travels that global interest in the war has waned. As well as the level of international support.

"The most terrible thing is that part of the world has become accustomed to the war in Ukraine. Exhaustion from the war is rolling like a wave. You see it in the United States, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get tired, it (the war in Ukraine) becomes like a show for them: "I can't watch this replay for the 10th time," Zelensky said.

Financial supports declines

Public support for aid to Ukraine has been declining in the US for months, and Zelensky's visit to Washington did nothing to revive it.

About 41 percent of Americans want Congress to provide more weapons to Kyiv, up from 65 percent in June, when Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive, according to a Reuters poll conducted shortly after Zelensky's departure.

That offensive took place at a painstaking pace and with huge losses, which is why it is increasingly difficult for Zelensky to convince his partners that victory is around the corner. With the outbreak of war in Israel, even keeping the world's attention on Ukraine has become a major challenge.

"Ukraine is left with no options, Zelensky's deluding himself"

But Zelensky's beliefs have not changed. Despite recent setbacks on the battlefield, he has no intention of giving up the fight or seeking any peace. On the contrary, his faith in Ukraine's eventual victory over Russia worries some of his advisers.

"He's deluding himself. We have no options. We're not winning. But try telling him that," one of his closest aides told Time magazine in frustration.

Zelensky's stubbornness, some of his aides say, has hurt their team's efforts to come up with a new strategy, a new message. As they debated the future of the war, one issue remained taboo: the possibility of negotiating a peace treaty with the Russians. Judging by recent polls, most Ukrainians would reject such a move, especially if it entailed the loss of any occupied territory. Zelensky remains against even a temporary truce.

"For us, that would mean leaving this wound open for future generations," the president told Time.

Zelensky describes it as a war of wills and fears that if the Russians do not stop in Ukraine, the fighting will spread beyond its borders.

"I have lived with this fear for a long time. The Third World War could start in Ukraine, continue in Israel and move from there to Asia, and then explode somewhere else," said Zelensky.

That was his message in Washington: Help Ukraine stop the war before it spreads and before it's too late. He worries that his audience has stopped paying attention.

Putin rubs his hands

All of this, of course, plays in favor of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Putin happily welcomed the diversion of attention from war crimes and the de facto weariness of the West from helping Ukraine.

The most obvious reason why this new explosion in the Middle East comes at the right time for the Russian president is that Ukraine's allies are turning to war in Israel, just as Russia is relaunching its offensive in the Donbass.

In recent days, Russian forces have been relentlessly shelling the area around Avdiyivka, a town of 30,000 that now numbers less than 2,000.

Ukraine is slowly running out of options. Without Western help, the question is how long they will be able to resist.