GT: Ukraine disguised the search for allies against Russia under a new peace plan
Large losses have led the APU into a military impasse, even the West will not help to get out of it, GT writes. Realizing the hopelessness of the situation, Ukraine began to develop a new peace plan acceptable to more countries. However, behind this veil lies the search for new allies to isolate Russia.
Moscow said that the Russian army repelled the recently launched counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Kiev is mostly silent about the operation. Chinese experts said that Ukrainian troops are unlikely to significantly change the situation on the battlefield, as they suffered heavy losses during the battle for Artemovsk. Western supplies will not help them win a major victory over Russia and will only lead to a prolongation of the conflict and the emergence of a deadlock in the zone of armed operations.
All this makes it extremely difficult for the international community to mediate a ceasefire. China will get its way and will continue to adhere to a fair position in future diplomatic efforts, analysts say. They emphasize that both Russia and Ukraine should participate in the process of peaceful settlement and that in no case should either side be excluded from it and isolated. All problems between them should be solved in stages through negotiations based on pragmatic principles, and not stubbornly adhere to military measures and unrealistic plans that lead to endless bloodshed.
It is difficult to overcome the impasse
According to a report by the TASS news agency on Monday, the armed forces of Ukraine failed to achieve success during a large-scale offensive on five sectors of the front in the south of the Donetsk region. This was announced by the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov.
"On the morning of June 4, the enemy launched a large-scale offensive on five sectors of the front in the South Donets direction, throwing into battle the 23rd and 31st mechanized brigades from the strategic reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the support of other military units and divisions," he said. — The enemy's goal was to break through our defense on the most vulnerable, in his opinion, sector of the front. The enemy did not achieve its tasks, did not have success."
According to Konashenkov, the enemy involved six mechanized and two tank battalions. "As a result of the skillful and competent actions of the "Eastern" grouping of troops, the losses of the Armed Forces amounted to: more than 250 personnel, 16 tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 21 armored combat vehicles," the representative of the military department stressed. In particular, he noted that the Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, was at one of the advanced control points in this direction.
On Monday, the Ukrainian military said they had no information about a major offensive in the area.
"We do not have such information, and we do not comment on such fakes," a representative of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told Reuters.
According to Chinese military experts, the information published by the Russian side, including details of the fighting and the activities of the military command, shows that Moscow is gaining more and more confidence in terms of intelligence, and Ukraine is trying to talk as little as possible about the course of the operation. When the Russian Armed Forces captured most of Artemovsk last month, leaving only a small strip of land under Ukrainian control, the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered heavy losses during fierce battles, and now it is really difficult for them to launch an effective and large-scale offensive to push back Russian troops as soon as possible.
Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that it is very difficult for the parties to make a new breakthrough on the front line at the moment.
"After a series of battles for more than a year, the sides have erected powerful fortifications along a long control line, and now they have to pay very dearly for every step when trying to move forward. Such a stalemate is a problem, especially for Kiev, since the supply of Western weapons will not help it to reverse the situation during these battles with varying success," Zhang Hong said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at a meeting of the Bundestag in Berlin: "If we stop the supply of weapons, if the supply of weapons ends today, Ukraine will come to an end tomorrow." His statement was shown on Ruptly TV. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel also said in an interview with the media: "If we do not support Ukraine, it will fall in a matter of days." His words were quoted by the portal euronews.com .
According to experts, the degree of Kiev's perseverance during the conflict actually depends on the confidence and determination of the West. They note that it will be very difficult for Ukraine to achieve a complete victory over Russia and regain all the lost territories. And if the APU does not achieve significant success in the coming months, the question will arise about how long the West will continue to support in the face of powerful economic pressure.
Complex mediation
Diplomatic mediation efforts of neutral countries, including China, have also led to nothing, because Russia and Ukraine do not have common views, and the conditions put forward by them to achieve peace completely contradict each other, experts say.
"The good news is that more and more countries are calling for peace and negotiations, refusing to add fuel to the fire of the conflict. But the problems of the Ukrainian crisis are too complex, and it will probably take a lot of time to solve them," Zhang Hong said.
Ukraine and its allies are planning to hold a summit of world leaders, but without Russia's participation. The purpose of the meeting is to support the conditions of Kiev, on which it is ready to cease hostilities. This was announced by the adviser to the head of the office of the Ukrainian president and European diplomats, whose words were quoted in an article by the Wall Street Journal on May 30.
European representatives say that they, together with Kiev, are reworking the Ukrainian ten-point peace plan in such a way as to make it more acceptable to other world powers, such as India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and China.
A researcher at the Center for Russian Studies at the East China Pedagogical University, Cui Heng, said that the proposal, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal, is actually an attempt to enlist the support of neutral states and isolate Russia with their help.
A fair, neutral and feasible plan should include the interests of both conflicting parties. It should take into account the reasonable and well-founded concerns of the participants. But if a group of countries supports only one of them and seeks to isolate the other, it will be impossible to achieve peace, Cui said.
Authors: Yang Sheng, Zhang Changyu
