It is unclear whether there will be a winner: in Austria they started talking about the need for negotiations
The head of the Austrian Defense Ministry Claudia Tanner, answering a question about the prospects of de-occupation of the Ukrainian territory, said that it is currently “unclear whether there will ever be a winner in the war”, which the Russian Federation unleashed against Ukraine. This is reported by Welt.
Tanner noted that she shares the opinion of US Army General Mark Milley, who earlier said that Ukraine allegedly will not be able to win the war in the near future, that is, to liberate all the lands captured by Russians.
– Ukraine’s combat capability was underestimated at the beginning of this war, and today, after more than ten months, it is still often underestimated. However, Moscow has huge reserves of equipment and soldiers. Fortunately, Ukraine has made very important progress, but it has a huge territory to defend,” she said.
In her opinion, it is important that negotiations take place against the backdrop of hostilities, and in such a way that attention is increasingly returning to diplomacy.
– But there is an opinion among some EU states that Ukraine, as a sovereign state, decides when to start negotiations and what should be the purpose of these negotiations.
On the other hand, the West, which has been supporting Ukraine for months with weapons and billions, should work with Kyiv to find out when the limits of this war are reached and when it makes sense to start negotiations in an appropriate form,” she said.
Tanner added that “we can’t forget about high energy prices” – a consequence of Putin’s war against Ukraine, which people in the West “increasingly find burdensome.”
The Defense Minister stressed that Austria is a “neutral country” that does not help Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, but provides field X-ray machines, helmets and heaters.
Source: Welt
