Zelenskyy cancels overseas trips, Russia closes in on Kharkiv: Is Ukraine losing the war? | ABC News
so let’s start with Ukraine we’ve got Putin and China putting on this show of unity and we’ve got China uh pushing forward with a new offensive in light of all that what’s the significance of this China trip well Ruby I think that part of it is the psychology of Vladimir Putin as well at a time when he’s in China showing that he can travel it’s his first major trip outside uh Russia since the war at the same time as the Ukrainian leader vomir zalinski is canceling his overseas assignments and I think that it firstly that points to the reality on the ground Ukraine is slowly losing this war there’s no doubt about that a lot of the media don’t really want to say that because the sympathies are with Ukraine but Ukraine is slowly losing the war it doesn’t mean they’re going to lose it but right at this moment Ukrainian soldiers are in Retreat and they’re not advancing anywhere else on the front line it’s a long front line of about 1200 kilm um and uh they’re holding their ground in some places but they’re retreating around hariv um I was in hariv last year for the ABC and aiv it’s extraordinary to look at pictures now but it used to be one of Europe’s great University towns students would come not only from around Ukraine but internationally now the Ukrainian Army are are evacuating some people older people frail people and the Russians are on the on the Move um and the Americans are starting to panic and in a way America has calibrated its assistance has been very slow in delivery of stuff has not provided what Ukraine needed which was f-16s and we’re now seeing the consequences that Ukraine is losing this war and and as you mentioned there the Ukrainian President Vladimir zalinski has been cancelling his trips overseas so he’s clearly concerned as well yeah I think they are starting they don’t want it to be too obvious um but I’ve made you know three trips there to Ukraine now and my is that they are starting to panic um they can see the advance of Russian soldiers the Russians already have 20% of Ukraine and they’re moving in and the delay in the US Congress at getting Aid in all of that means that Ukraine is now on the defensive the other strategic thing is that in the eight or 10 months that the world talked about the famous counter offensive by Ukraine there was a lot of expectations on that um Russia prepared during those 8 or 10 months by digging the most extraordinary system of trenches and barbwire and hidden mines Etc it appears that the ukrainians didn’t didn’t dig such defensive lines themselves so it’s easier now for the Russians to actually cross back and take more territory because the ukrainians assumed that they would be on the counter offensive and all countries all around the world were promising all sorts of leopard tanks and this and that and we’ll try train F-16 Pilots a lot of that never came and what came was too slow and now the world’s dealing with the reality that Russia is winning this war part of that help that has come albe it quite delayed is uh from the US and the secretary of state has announced more aid for Ukraine um is that a case of too little too late what kind of difference will that make well it’s it’s better than nothing um and it’s interesting Anthony blinkin uses the term that we are rushing we are rushing ammunition to Ukraine and I think the use of that word says everything um This Is War has been going on two and a half years you’d think it would be a an organized calibrated supply of weapons now but with the uncertainty and the delay in America in getting that bill through there’s the fear of trump as well now in a way Vlad um Vladimir Putin’s always been holding on until he wants Trump back in the White House Trump is Putin’s candidate and that could mean that that Trump just calls an end to the war and says to both sides okay stop it you you keep what you have which would be vict defeat for Ukraine they’d lose 20% of their territory and they would then turn on each other internally I don’t think a leader like zinski anybody could survive having lost 20% of your territory so it would unleash a lot of bad forces inside Ukraine so a lot depending on the outcome of that us election
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cancelled his overseas assignments amid Russian advances in Ukraine’s north-eastern region of Kharkiv. Global affairs editor John Lyons says Kyiv and Washington are starting to ‘panic’ as the US’ slow response has heightened Ukraine’s chances of losing the war.
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