On January 1st Ukraine’s President Zelensky welcomed 2023 with the words, “Happy New Year! The year of our victory!’ Instead, as we approach year’s end, the conflict seems to have settled into a war of attrition which neither side can win or lose. In spite of the bravery of Ukraine’s troops and more support from the West than anyone expected, Ukraine’s much-heralded summer offensive looks to have failed, or at least stalled.

What comes next? Rinse and repeat? Negotiation? Some kind of dramatic escalation that changes the rhythm of this horrible war?

Our guest on New Thinking for New World is Svitlana Morenets, a Ukrainian journalist who is now a staff writer at Britain’s Spectator magazine recently published an absolutely brilliant article titled “Zelensky Must Be Honest About the State of the War”(paywall). She ended her piece this way. “The real question is the extent of the sacrifice everyone is willing to make and what the most probable outcome will be if they choose not to pay that price anymore.”

Listen as we discuss what an honest assessment might mean. And join the conversation: “Do you think Ukraine can win?” Tell us what you think and comment below.

Listen to the episode here or find the New Thinking for a New World podcast on a platform of your choice (Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, Youtube, etc

ABOUT OUR GUEST
Svitlana Morenets is an award-winning Ukrainian journalist and current staff writer at the British magazine The Spectator. She covers Russia’s war in Ukraine, including reporting from the frontline regions. As the author of the Ukraine in Focus weekly newsletter, she provides insightful coverage of the latest developments in the conflict. In 2019, Svitlana received the Ukrainian writing award for her undercover report from Russian-occupied Crimea.