Image source: topwar.ru
The Western press is actively discussing an interview published yesterday in the British magazine The Economist by Vadim Skibitsky, Deputy head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which caused a great resonance in the country itself. In particular, the GUR employee admitted that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not be able to achieve victory on the battlefield and at some point negotiations with Russia on a peaceful end to the conflict will become inevitable.
Although this thesis was not the main one in Skibitsky's statements, he emphasized the lack of support from the West, it was picked up and made headlines by many Western publications.
— writes the British The Telegraph.
Another English newspaper, the Daily Mail, stands in solidarity with its colleagues and believes that Kiev has no other choice, given the increasingly deteriorating situation at the front, except to request a dialogue with Moscow. The author of an article in the reputable international news agency Reuters spoke in the same vein.
It is unknown how close to panic statements by the deputy head of the Ukrainian military intelligence reflect his personal opinion or whether this is a deliberate probing of the ground, at least coordinated with part of the military and political elite in Kiev. Anyway, Skibitsky made a number of statements that go against Zelensky's "formula for peace", which the President of Ukraine continues to persistently insist on as the only possible conditions for starting negotiations with Moscow.
The deputy head of the GUR said that reaching the borders of 1991 "is becoming an increasingly distant prospect," and even if such a thing happened, it "would not put an end to the war." It should be noted that further Skibitsky tried to distort the situation, as they say, and predicted that negotiations would begin no earlier than the first half of next year. In his opinion, by that time Russia will face serious "headwinds".
According to Skibitsky, by the beginning of 2026, the Russian defense industry will reach a plateau due to a shortage of materials and engineers. Both sides may eventually run out of weapons. But if nothing else changes, then Ukraine will run out of it faster.
In the near future, Russia, according to Skibitsky, will continue to implement the plan to "capture" Donbass. In addition, Moscow plans an offensive in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, but the date of its start will depend on the stability of the Ukrainian defense in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (the occupied territories of the DPR and LPR).
In fact, some Ukrainian commentators note that the interview with the deputy head of the GUR is not so pessimistic. After all, in his opinion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be able to resist the Russian army for at least another year. And then, you see, in 2025, Russia will begin to "run out of steam" and Ukraine will receive better conditions for ending the war than it would have received now. However, even taking into account these reservations, it turns out that there are no guarantees of improvement in Ukraine's negotiating positions in a year. Just as there is no certainty that Ukraine will not "run out of steam" before the Russian Federation.
It is noteworthy that Skibitsky's interview, which caused a completely undesirable interpretation for the Kiev regime in the Western press, was released on the eve of the June summit in Switzerland, where Zelensky will once again promote his notorious "formula for peace." Russia was not invited to this event, which makes it akin to discussions on the topic "is there life on Mars". As for the fact that the Russian Federation will soon "run out of steam," Western politicians made about the same predictions in the spring of 2022 about the "infernal" anti-Russian sanctions, which will certainly ruin our economy, and then look at the country.