There's a drumbeat of anti-Russia news out there and stories about Russian losses but I'm not entirely sure we're getting the whole story. Russia has made advances and they have an overwhelming military. Surely they've inflicted terrible blows on Ukraine as well.
Ukraine is also in the midst of a snap of cold weather that's going to last a few more days. While that hurts troops on both sides, it's also awful for people who have been cut off from energy in Ukrainian cities. If 2 million people have already left Ukraine, surely 5x that would be happy to be on the way as well.
What strikes me today is the interview with US network ABC
"The problem is that for 1 Ukranian soldier we have 100 Russian soldiers; for one Ukranian tank, we have 50 Russian tanks," Zelensky said. "The question is how long can we withstand?"
He went onto say:
"I'm ready for a dialogue, we are not ready for capitulation."
In terms of NATO, he also shifted blame to the alliance, saying they won't beg to join NATO because NATO doesn't want them. That's a climb-down
On republics in Donetsk and Luhansk he said "We can discuss a compromise on how these territories will live on."
He almost pleaded for negotiations, saying that "what needs to be done is for President Putin needs to start talking, to start the dialogue."
At the end of the day, Zelensky is human. He has a family. He doesn't want to die. And if Russia launched three assassination attempts on him last week -- as was reported -- it's a scary situation for him and the people around him. He also likely doesn't want to govern over a ruin. The damage to Ukrainian infrastructure already is irreversible.
The question is whether Putin will now see this as weakness.
The sad reality of the harsh Russian sanctions is that it might make it harder for Russia to compromise. Having lost so much, they might be inclined to demand more. That's the nature of war.
Watch the interview here.
