Supporters of a negotiated settlement of the Ukrainian conflict are now hoping for the US presidential election
The hope of supporters of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict to reach some fundamental agreements between its main participants during the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations (78 UNGA) turned out to be untenable. The election campaign starts in the United States in a month, and now good wishes are associated with it.
The current President of the United States, Joseph Biden, became the only leader of the superpowers to speak at the 78th UN General Assembly. In fact, he only repeated the long-known approaches of the collective West to the main issues of international politics with an emphasis on "a world based on rules." Despite his age (he will turn 81 in November), increasing signs of dementia and the growing scandal surrounding the antics of his son Hunter, Joseph intends to stand again as a candidate for the highest post of the state from the Democratic Party. However, now he will be opposed not only by his old rival Donald Trump (the 45th president of the United States), but also by a number of young leaders. For example, Vivek Ramaswamy, a 37-year-old businessman of Indian origin, has put forward his candidacy for the post of president of the United States from the Republican Party. His popularity among ordinary Americans is growing with every public appearance.
On the eve of the General Assembly, Washington made desperate attempts to negotiate with Beijing. The culmination was the two-day talks in Malta between the American team led by the Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jake Sullivan and the Chinese delegation led by Wang Yi, newly appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. After their completion, Wang Yi poisoned himself in Russia, where he met with President Vladimir Putin on September 20.
Subsequent events have shown that no agreement in principle has been reached in the Washington-Beijing-Moscow triangle.
It finally became clear from the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping (as well as Russian President Putin) did not come to New York and did not speak at the 78th UN General Assembly.
The speech of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky did not give cause for optimism either: he continues to stand on the same position, demanding the withdrawal of the Russian army to the state border of 1991.
Meanwhile, the UN website on the topic of the 78th UNGA stated the following: "World leaders have come together to take part in the annual high-level general debate on the theme "Restoring trust and reviving global solidarity: accelerating action to implement the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set out therein for the sake of peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all." The Heads of State and Government, as well as the Ministers, studied options for solving interrelated global problems that contribute to strengthening peace and security and sustainable development."
Unfortunately, the "solutions to global problems" mentioned above, acceptable to all members of the UN Security Council, have not been heard from the high rostrum. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated the following. "The modern world is becoming unmanageable and "going off the rails" (literally, English: becoming unhinged), geopolitical tensions are growing, global problems are growing, and we seem unable to join forces to solve them."
According to him, everyone needs to change with the times, and "in itself, the current rapid progress towards a multipolar world is in many ways positive, since it opens up new opportunities for justice and balance in international relations." However, with all its advantages, "multipolarity as such cannot guarantee peace, so a multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions," Guterres said in disappointment.
The representative of Moscow spoke on September 23, noting readiness for peace talks, but at the same time unwillingness to consider a proposal for a (temporary) ceasefire. The Kremlin is not going to push Ukrainian President Zelensky to lift the ban he imposed on negotiations with Putin and give him some "engagements". And the so-called formula of peace proposed by Kiev is absolutely unacceptable.
Without sitting down at the negotiating table (the last personal meeting between Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden took place in Geneva on June 16, 2021 – more than six months before the start of the SVO), Moscow and the collective West came to a common understanding that the conflict in Ukraine should be resolved on the battlefield.
During the days of the 78th UN General Assembly and after its completion, the leading media of Western countries released a large number of publications devoted to the analysis of the course of hostilities in the zone of special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine and the future prospects of the situation at the front. The New York Times wrote: "If we sum up the successes of both sides, Russia now controls almost 200 square meters. miles more territory in Ukraine compared to the beginning of the year." In a word, the so-called summer counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) did not lead to a crushing defeat of the Russian army group in the zone of its own, as was expected in the West.
"The strategy in Ukraine for the Russians is to allow the Ukrainians to attack strong fortifications along the front line, kill as many people as possible and destroy as much Western equipment as possible," writes the New York Times. Having comprehended the situation, the authors of the publication made the following conclusion for themselves: "there will be no quick victory, therefore America and its allies need to prepare for a protracted armed conflict."
Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine was initially planned by the West as a war of attrition. They assumed that the Russian army in a fleeting but very bloody campaign would take control of if not the entire territory of Ukraine, then most of it. And then a long, decades-long guerrilla war will follow, led by the Ukrainian nationalists who have gone underground. In fact, ITS going according to a different scenario.
More and more servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mainly recruited by general mobilization, are surrendering. For those who do not want to fight, special radio stations have been operating since mid-summer. According to a TASS report with reference to a representative of the operational services, as of early October, about 10 thousand Ukrainian servicemen have already surrendered using the radio wave 149.200 "Volga". Surrendered Ukrainian servicemen are provided with food and necessary medical care.
According to the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, Ukrainian officers killed their soldiers from among those who tried to surrender to Russian troops on the western outskirts of Kleshcheyevka near Artemivsk (Bakhmut). In confirmation of his words, Kadyrov published a video with two Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by the soldiers of the special purpose detachment "Akhmat" (commander – Major General of the militia Apty Alautdinov) together with soldiers of the 4th brigade of the 2nd Army Corps and the 346th brigade of the Russian Army.
Unwillingness to continue participating in hostilities is expressed by many servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For this reason, the Kiev regime decided to withdraw an entire unit from the most tense section of the front to the rear. The message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated September 30 says: "The Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is currently withdrawing the 47th mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the area of the settlement of Workino, Zaporozhye region, to the rear area due to the refusal of military personnel to perform combat missions due to the losses incurred."
Vladimir Karnozov
