Russia increases attacks on Ukraine, as Western weapons supplies slowly trickle in | The World
I I think it’s the most serious position that Ukraine has faced since uh the early months of the Russian invasion in 2022 um but I think it needs to be be put in perspective that this is a far more limited Russian advance than we saw in that opening phase of the invasion and it could change very very soon why do I say that uh Russia as you noted has been attacking in the denet region in eastern Ukraine it’s been attacking the har region in the Northeast in a cross border attack in the last two weeks but it still hasn’t gained a huge amount of territory it’s taken one significant town in denet called abiva in mid-February and then a series of villages and then it is moved it’s taken about 100 square kilometers of territory in harke now that Russian initiative is the potential that it could break through Ukrainian front lines if Aid isn’t arriving but the aid is beginning to get there the key thing here the key development is that for 6 and a half months trumpist and hard right Republicans held up American Aid uh getting to Ukraine last month $61 billion authorized and some of it’s now reaching the front line and less notice but still important is the European Union with a huge initiative to provide artillery shells hundreds of thousands of artillery shells but just to add to this and open up maybe space for further questions this is only one aspect of the war because the war behind the front lines includes for example Ukraine badly damaging Russia with strikes on Naval bases with strikes on oil refineries strikes on air bases strikes on Supply points and if the us and this is the big debate today if the US shifts its position and allows Ukraine to use long range American missiles inside Russia that could be a key point in expanding as it were this war beyond the front lines and putting Russia rather than Ukraine on the defense yeah interesting and and this is where I think zalinski has really been focusing his attention this week with several interviews he’s also talking about the importance of the West providing air defense systems we’ve talked about this multiple times but also for the West to get more actively involved um do you think this is the only way or the best way to prevent Russia ultimately prevailing in a war of attrition I I mean I think be you’ve you’ve just identified that we’ve got multiple fronts here in this conflict so I do think we have to talk about air defenses because Russia has really banked on breaking Ukraine breaking its energy infrastructure breaking its civilian morale with these deadly strikes and Ukraine needs more air defenses to try to counter that Russian attempt we’ve seen that just today with the latest deaths in harv but we’re also talking about the question of Economic and Financial Security so you need the assistance to Ukraine to bolster its government its ability to deliver public services and conversely Russia is under pressure because how long can it keep its wartime economy going and then perhaps the most important front for all of us is the information war or let’s call it the propaganda War because Russia will gamble that the International Community will walk away from Ukraine the message will be from Moscow just give up concentrate on your own backyard leave key of to us will that propaganda succeed and there are a lot of activists including in Australia who recycle it or do you have an insistance on the facts beginning with the basic fact is this isn’t a NATO Western War this is Vladimir Putin’s war which began in February 2022 to try to conquer a neighbor correct the thing is though you it feels to a large extent though that you that Russia is heavily invested Putin made this clear when was you know once again inaugurated as president that he’s not going to walk away that this could just go on and on and on at what point does Ukraine accept the status quo for example and potentially try and protect what it still has Bev you just nailed that central point of the Ukrainian of the Russian I should say propaganda War which is look let’s let’s just let us hold on to the 20% of Ukraine that we have let us hold on not only to Crimea but to the four regions that we annexed in September 2022 two in the East two in the South will the International Community fall for that the fact of the matter is is that I think ukrainians who are suffering who have gone through almost unendurable hardship they still want to continue to have their country they still want to continue to have their residents in those four regions be part of Ukraine they don’t want to sacrifice them and I think as long as that Ukrainian will is there no it’s it’s a question of a marathon not a Sprint and I’ll just add The Wider perspective B which we sometimes forget Vladimir Putin gambled that he could break the world Beyond Ukraine in 2022 we’re talking about more than two years later Sweden and Finland are part of NATO you have I think a revitalized European Union with a sense of purpose in terms of what it does you have people in Australia realizing that Europe is not this separate continent that it matters to Australians as well far from breaking the International Community in a way Putin has galvanized it it does act too slowly at times to help Ukraine but it’s still there and the fact of the matter is is that for Vladimir Putin it’s winner bust and the longer he doesn’t win the more the bust could be uh on the ver the more the bust could be on the verge of happening yeah so it’s a measure of time Scott I really do want to also ask you talking about the European Union um three key European countries Ireland Norway and Spain made quite a shift in in coming out in support of a Palestinian State how do you read this and do you see that it is something of a turning point while at the moment of course acknowledging that that a Palestinian state is nowhere near close particularly as as Hamas is still not necessarily there is no replacement for Hamas yet well let’s start off with the Practical situation be which is that uh you have the question of you know will the United Nations for example finally formally recognize the state of Palestine with more than 140 of its member states uh supporting this well that of course is not just a question for the general assembly but it’s one where the security Council uh will have a role and we know that the US would likely veto any move towards recognition uh because Israel doesn’t want it uh we know that your point there which is you know how can you have a Palestinian State when it’s a question of governance and Hamas is sort of Beyond legitimacy after its mass killings on October 7th but also how can you have a state of Palestine when Israel is conducting an open-ended war in Gaza and is occupying the West Bank so all of that is there but that being said no this is a symbolic moment um the three European states that joined yesterday or that are going to formally recognize Palestine and I happen to live in one of them that now means nine of the eu’s 27 members support recognition and three more European States could be on the verge of doing so Belgium Malta and Slovenia so you’d be close to a majority of the EU in favor of a Palestinian State at least in principle and what I think that does is it sets a path which is if we get beyond the war in Gaza this is no longer a question of waiting for a two-state solution where the US Brokers Israel Palestinian talks the International Community is saying we have to find another way to accomplish that sooner rather than later Scott always appreciate getting your views thank you so much thank you so much Bob
Russian forces say they’ve captured another village in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in a blow to Kyiv as it struggles to replenish weapons supplies amid delivery delays from Western allies. Professor of International Politics at the University College Dublin’s Clinton Institute and Editor of EA WorldView, Scott Lucas, tells The World’s Beverley O’Connor that Ukraine is in its most precarious position since the start of the Russian invasion.
ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It’s news when you want it, from Australia’s most trusted news organisation.
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Follow ABC News on X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/abcnews
Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated.
#ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia