With no way out of a worsening war, Zelensky’s options look bad or worse

29 comments

1. I always like to keep track of who writes what. Especially Wapo and the NYT.

   *Isabelle Khurshudyan is a foreign correspondent based in Kyiv. A University of South Carolina graduate, she has worked at The Washington Post since 2014, previously as a correspondent in the Moscow bureau…*

2. all thanks to USA suddenly being a cowards:/

3. Maybe Americans can do something with stupid maga Johnson and, for example, help Ukraine to win? And not to discuss what options has Zelensky. What options has America?

4. US: no help
   EU: not enough help
   Santions: barely enforced

   Author: if only there was a way out of this war

   Idk, may be try helping sufficiently for a change

5. Ukraine is in as much trouble as we in then West are pussies. If Ukraine looses the war we are to blame – always on our conscience because we are dipshits.

6. It is better to be realistic than to have high hopes, as during the famous counter-offensive that regained full control over the territory, including Crimea

7. They think they can make us stop defending ourselves with these stupid articles 🤦‍♂️

8. From the authors of “Kyiv falls in 2-3 days”

9. I think Zelensky and Ukrainians should be very proud of what they attempted to achieve in any case. Holding off a superpower for what was 2+ years now is impressive. I do hope they don’t fall into the sunk cost trap where mobilisations keep getting younger, but it’s their choice. In any case, we have learned a lot about Russia and modern warfare, so should they decide to continue we’ll (theoretically) be more prepared.

10. Hasn’t this been Washington Post from the beginning?

11. Finally the truth has reached r/europe. Only took a couple of years.

12. It will be the same with reconstruction. A little effort, than all the partners will say “no, we can’t do too much, please consider living in the rubble, and let us give Russians their assets back and trade with them again”.

13. If Ukraine falls, NATO is next. It’s in our best interest to make sure Ukraine gets out victorious from this war, but the politicians still seem to live in their bubble thinking maybe in 10 years the sanctions will have some effect (they won’t) and Putin will withdraw (he won’t, unless he dies in the meantime).

    We need to send Ukraine, weapons, ammunition, tanks, defense systems, get rid of the veto system or kick Putin’s puppets out of the EU so we can actually get things done.

14. Should have kept Zaluzhny. Syrsky as main commander means more meatgrinders like Bakhmut which currently harm Ukraine more than Russia.

15. Do people not n ow how much money and stuff ukraine have gotten? I’m not saying we should stop with weapons but everyone here saying we should send all of our stuff are just insane

16. It wouldn’t take that much from the West to ensure Ukraine is the side retaking territory. We need to do more. 

17. Damn, it’s almost like we’re expecting Ukraine to defeat Russia with only a fraction of the materials it needs and a smaller population.

    This war is a failure of the EU. We sat on our asses for decades, expecting that the Americans would always take care of our security. The best thing Trump ever did was teach us the lesson that we can’t rely on anyone other than ourselves.

18. This is the effect of the policy the US chose for this war. Since the beginning of the invasion, the West sent aid to Ukraine very slowly, as if the purpose was to keep the war balanced rather than make Russia lose. I remember Zelenski was campaigning asking for planes and tanks for a long time before he finally got them.

    Well, here we are, 2 years later Russia has succesfully switched into war economy, Ukraine is nearing the depletion of available soldiers and we found out that the whole West can barely keep up with Russia on producing critical ammunition.

19. I think the countries that support Ukraine need to firmly decide whether they really support Ukraine or not, giving bare minimum isn’t a support, it’s just a life support. I do not see how half the earth can’t gather enough weapons to support Ukraine properly

    Worse off is that Ukraine gave up its nukes for this level of support, doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me.

20. making crimeea a neutral international zone. turkey? 😉

21. >And President Volodymyr Zelensky’s options for what to do next — much less **how to win the war** — range from bad to worse.

    How to win the war… I’m pretty sure after the failure of the summer offensive, winning the war was never a real option/possibility for anyone with realistic sense. The last 6-8 months and the future is all about survival and trying to last out the seemingly worse outcome, the complete collapse.

    When the US and EU government decides about support, it’s not about financing a glorious victory, but preventing a collapse.

22. Imagine letting a piece of shit country like Russia win when their military sucks this bad. They’re simply relying on time since they don’t value human life and will kill millions of their own people for this.

23. USA and EU will feel Russia victory as they can not now imagine.

24. Zelensky is playing at independence, but Ukraine can’t stand on their own. They are not truly independent if they expect US taxpayers to subsidize their unrealistic goals. The article admits this:

    “Zelensky will also have to live up to his own promise — which he restates regularly — of returning Ukraine to its 1991 borders, including Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia illegally invaded and claimed as its own 10 years ago.
    ‘Smart people know that’s not realistic,’ the Ukrainian lawmaker said, adding: ‘The political leadership needed to adjust this rhetoric at some point.’”

    But Zelensky keeps repeating his unrealistic demands and expecting sugar daddy Uncle Sam to subsidize them. He needs to come to the negotiating table, as does Putin.

25. If Ukraine loses, it’s because we are spineless cowards.

26. European politicians are either impotent or receive salaries from Putin.

27. That he has been able to co-opt so many prominent Republicans in the US to impede efforts to assist Ukraine has obviously given Putin reason to believe that he can eventually prevail even though the Russians are taking inordinate losses.

    This Republican treachery has cost many lives and will cost many more.

28. Ukraine handed over their Nuclear weapons to Russia in a treaty that stated Russia would never go to war with the Ukraine.

    This is noones fault but Russia for breaking that Peace Treaty.

    Fucking Putin.

29. Oh, the American newspapers already preparing the American public for them pulling out?

    Perhaps they should reconsider this. And watch Russia having to pull out instead.