This week marks the start of the third year since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Two years on, Ukrainians are still fighting the aggressor, and the world appears to be losing interest in the resolution of that conflict.
The West, which stood by Kyiv from the start of the war, is now distracted by the conflict in Gaza and the Red Sea. The SA-led African peace initiative lost steam as Pretoria has latched onto a new pet project in standing by Palestine against Israel.
Support for Ukraine from the West is still there, but it is not as strong as it was in 2022.
The US is holding general elections this year. This will likely divert its attention even further away from Ukraine. More concerning is the suggestion by Donald Trump, the front-runner to be nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, that if he wins the November elections he would pull the US out of Nato, the Western military alliance. If that happens, the divisions would embolden Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president.
In so many ways, however, the Ukrainians are winning on moral grounds. Hopes by Putin that he would rout Ukraine within weeks have been dashed by Kyiv’s resilience. The war is unpopular in Russia. It will be on Russians’ minds when they go to the polls in March.
Ukraine deserves the world’s ongoing support to force Putin back to the negotiating table.
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