In recent days, the eyes of the world have focused on the Gaza region of the Middle East, where the conflict has claimed hundreds of people.
In Eastern Europe, however, another Russia-Ukraine war, which has been going on for 21 months, has not received enough attention. The war has entered a stalemate, with both sides waiting for the other's mistakes in order to launch a deadly attack.
In this tense atmosphere, the White House of the United States issued a cry of despair, which provoked panic in Ukraine!
It turns out that the US Congress has been dragging its feet on assistance to Ukraine, which has led to the fact that the White House has not been able to supply Ukraine with new military equipment, which will plunge Ukraine into a crisis on the battlefield.
According to the Global Times, Yermak, director of the Ukrainian ** Office, made a shocking remark on December 5 local time during his visit to the United States.
He said that if the White House continues to delay aid to Ukraine, then Ukraine will not be able to maintain its offensive and will be forced to switch to the defensive, and Ukraine will face a huge risk of "losing".
He also revealed that Ukraine's budget deficit in 2024 will reach $43 billion, and without external assistance, Ukraine will also face huge financial risks.
Yermak's remarks are undoubtedly in response to the White House's intention to jointly put pressure on the US Congress.
Because just the day before, the Associated Press reported that the White House warned in a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives:Aid to Ukraine will run out by the end of the year.
This means that if Congress does not approve the supplementary budget before the end of the year, the United States will not be able to provide Ukraine with new military equipment, which will have "devastating consequences" for Ukraine on the battlefield.
Maybe some friends are not very clear why Ukraine is fighting with Russia and why it is relying on the assistance of the United States and the European Union.
In fact, it is all about Ukraine's economic and military strength.
Let's take a look at the gap between Ukraine and Russia with some simple data.
According to 2021 data, Ukraine's GDP is $200 billion, while Russia's GDP is $178 trillion dollars.
Russia's fiscal revenues amounted to 3308900 million US dollars, and Ukraine's fiscal revenue is 341400 million US dollars, Russian military spending of 65.9 billion US dollars, Ukrainian military spending of 5.9 billion US dollars.
As can be seen from these figures, Russia is more than 9 times more economically and militarily than Ukraine.
This means that without external assistance, Ukraine simply cannot compete with Russia.
In fact, since the war began, the United States has provided at least $76 billion in military equipment and other aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine** Marchenko also admitted that Ukraine will run a fiscal deficit of $5 billion every month, of which 2 3 will come from foreign loans and donations.
It can be said that Ukraine is fighting on the front line, and the United States and the European Union are paying in the rear.
Once the "payer" is lost, Ukraine will have a terrible situation of rout on the front line in a very short time.
Western countries know Ukraine's predicament, but they also don't want to see Ukraine annexed by Russia like this.
Because for them, Ukraine is an important strategic pawn that can be used to counterbalance Putin's ambitions.
In the Russian-Ukrainian war, the United States and the European Union did not directly send troops to the war, but only provided money and aid.
The advantage of this is that they don't have to take risks on their own and don't have to worry about opposition at home. As long as there are Ukrainians bleeding on the front line, they can sit back and enjoy it.
So, at least for a short time, the United States and the European Union will not give up on Ukraine.
They will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine so that Ukraine can maintain its current positions and not allow Russia to succeed easily.
However, as time goes on, the patience of Western countries will gradually wear out, and they will become more and more suspicious of the value of Ukraine, and they will hear more and more complaints from their own population.
By then, for Ukraine, it will be the real crisis.
Recently, the West has often reported news of Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, although it has not been officially confirmed, but it also shows that both sides have the willingness to ease the situation.
After all, this war has been going on for too long, and it is not beneficial for either side, but only caused senseless sacrifices and losses.
However, to achieve real peace talks, the cooperation of the Ukrainian side is also needed.
If Ukraine continues to play the role of the "best person" of the United States and blindly obeys the instructions of the United States, then there is no point in peace talks.
Because Putin is a political strongman, he will not make any concessions in this situation.