Winter in Ukraine promises to be dark and cruel. Almost a month after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Ukrainians fear that their war will be forgotten. Authorities in Kiev are also worried about the future of support from the United States as their American ally struggles to secure international aid for Ukraine, with the American Congress divided on the issue.
On Thursday, November 2, the House of Representatives also approved $14.3 billion (13.4 billion euros) in military aid for Israel, while President Joe Biden is calling for a joint envelope of $105 billion for Israel, Ukraine and partners in Asia to counter Republican elected officials unwilling to maintain American support for Kiev. Beyond the supposed “Fatigue” of the West Twenty months after the start of the Russian invasion, the situation around and in the Gaza Strip appears to have temporarily displaced Ukraine from the West’s priorities.
“This is not an online game”
“The whole world’s attention is focused on following what is happening in the Middle East,” complains Olexiy Haran, professor of political science at the renowned Mohyla University in Kiev. “We have to act pragmatically. Because with this new conflict and all its consequences, we face many new challenges,” says Solomiia Bobrovska, deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, and member of the Committee on National Security and Protection. “I understand that it’s hard to keep following, that people get tired,” she continues. But this is not an online game. It’s about the world in which people, families live… What we are experiencing is not normal, it is abnormal. » Aware of Kiev’s doubts, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, traveled to the Ukrainian capital on Friday, November 3, to assure the authorities of Europe’s financial support and the accession process begun with the Twenty-Seven.
In recent days, as media coverage of Ukraine around the world narrowed and focused on the Middle East, two articles published by the international press had a strong impact on the country as an additional wake-up call. The first, published on October 30 by the American magazine Time, describes a terribly defeatist atmosphere within the Ukrainian presidency, between anger and disillusionment at the decline in support from allied countries. “The most frightening thing is that part of the world has gotten used to the war in Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelensky is quoted as saying in the article. War weariness is spreading like a wave. We see it in the United States, in Europe,” the Ukrainian leader continues.
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