Time: Ukrainian President Zelensky feels 'betrayed' by the West
(Baonghean.vn) - The Ukrainian leader said the conflict had "become like a show" for the Western public.
Aides to the Ukrainian president told Time magazine that Mr. Zelensky felt “betrayed” by his Western backers, who refused to provide the support and attention to which he had grown accustomed. According to information published on October 30, those close to the Ukrainian president now consider him “delusional” and that the conflict with Russia is unwinnable.
According to RT, Mr. Zelensky and his advisers spoke to the US magazine Time after the Ukrainian president visited Washington last month. Unlike the hero's welcome he received in December last year, his most recent visit saw Mr. Zelensky criticized for corruption in Ukraine and not addressed lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Despite President Joe Biden’s pledge to support Kiev “for as long as necessary,” the US Congress has failed to agree on a new aid bill for Ukraine. Ten days after Mr. Zelensky returned to Kiev from Washington, US lawmakers attempted to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown, but only after removing $6 billion in aid for Ukraine from the bill.
Time quoted a member of the Ukrainian leader’s team as saying: “Mr. Zelensky feels betrayed by his Western allies. They have left him with no means to win the war, only the means to survive.”
“The scariest thing is that part of the world has gotten used to the war in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “War fatigue comes in waves. You see it in America, in Europe. And we see that as soon as they start to get tired, it’s like a performance for them: ‘I can’t watch this replay for the 10th time.’”
Mr. Zelensky told Time that he still believes his forces can defeat Russia on the battlefield and that he would not consider any negotiations with Moscow, even though Ukraine’s summer offensive failed to achieve its goals and resulted in what the magazine called “huge losses.” According to the most recent Russian figures, the Ukrainian military lost more than 90,000 troops between early June and early this month.
“He’s lying to himself,” one of Mr. Zelensky’s closest aides told Time. “We have no choice. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.”
The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war has diverted Western attention from Kiev in recent weeks, with the Pentagon increasing troops and weapons to the Middle East and US House Speaker Mike Johnson prioritizing military aid to the Jewish state over Ukraine.
“That is reasonable,” Mr. Zelensky told Time, adding that while “the world’s help is needed” in Israel, “we are at a disadvantage.”
