Kiev fears the West will lose interest in the conflict, deep-seated Donbas crisis and general price hikes after four months
‘Tensions are rising in the East’; ‘Putin invades Ukraine’; ‘Moscow bombs Ukrainian capital’; Thousands of civilians die in Russian airstrike. Headlines like this have filled the news and front pages of newspapers since last February 24, when the Kremlin started a full-scale war in its neighboring country. Nothing compared to the ongoing clashes that have been taking place in the Donbass region since eight years earlier, when Moscow encouraged pro-Russian uprising after annexing the Crimean peninsula. The invasion has been part of everyday life in Western countries since February, but after four months, interest seems to be waning.
The space the conflict occupies in the media and in the international social debate is still very important, huge even in line with the immense human tragedy it represents, but it does not seem to be the same shock that the siege of Kiev, the first days of mass exodus of refugees or the discovery of the massacres and torture of Bucha. According to surveys, Europeans are starting to focus more on their daily worries and are especially hurt by the general rise in the cost of living.
The greatest impact of the war is in Ukraine itself, with the loss of thousands of lives, nearly seven million exiles and ruined cities that will cost 600,000 million euros to restore. But the West is also feeling the indirect effects, especially with skyrocketing food or fuel prices, justifying the rulers for the Ukrainian crisis.
Losing interest is one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s biggest fears. “Our job is that the world does not get tired of war,” he warned the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of May. A complicated task, especially now that the conflict has almost returned to its origin: the Donbas, where clashes between pro-Russians and Ukrainians have been ongoing since 2014.
But unlike the effects of the invasion since late February, the war of the past eight years in the border region with Russia has been barely noticed by the international community. And that caused 15,000 deaths. The difference was that then they fought for 5% of the territory of Ukraine and now it is about the resistance of a country that has been mercilessly subjugated and razed to the ground. A struggle for justice and democracy, in the words of leaders like NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg or EU leader Ursula Von der Leyen.
Some analysts believe that this latest turn of the war, concentrated in the Donbás, could lead part of society to see it again as an internal and political conflict that requires urgent dialogue. According to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations, conducted by the consultancy YouGov and the research firm Datapraxis, “European public opinion is changing.” While the world economies are still recovering from the pandemic, the Eastern War has hit them hard.
The large gap between the 8,000 people in ten countries (Poland, Romania, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom) who have been asked about the current war paradigm is among those who want to end the armed conflict as soon as possible and those who prefer Ukraine to fight on until Russia is defeated. An objective that seems increasingly utopian given the territorial loss of the Ukrainian army. In general, Europeans have no doubts about which side they should be on. They want Ukraine to be victorious and they are ready to help the country. However, they want everything to stop soon.
35% of those polled are in favor of an end to the war as soon as possible, even if this means that Ukraine has to make concessions. 25% for their part maintain that punishing Moscow and restoring the invaded country’s territorial integrity must take precedence over the demand for peace. In addition, 50% of the first group believe that their government pays too much attention to the conflict. In the case of the second group, 52% assure that they have received a normal interest rate, compared to 38% who say it has been too much. Other voters believe that the world community is paying too much attention to the Ukrainian crisis.
Geographically, the preference to end the conflict as soon as possible is strongest in Italy (52%) and Germany (49%). They are also two of the countries where citizens are more publicly fatigued by inflation. The data presented in this report shows that “solidarity fatigue” could also emerge soon. In Poland and Romania – two of the countries closest to the conflict zone – more than 50% of respondents confirm that their governments have focused too much on the conflict at the expense of other pressing problems in each country.
This is proof that “unity in Europe is waning a bit with the Russian invasion. There is this kind of fatigue and even some countries are less and less willing to go through with sanctions,” said Matteo Villa, an analyst at the ISPI think tank in Milan.
Faced with this situation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated this week that it is essential to maintain support for Kiev after four months of struggle. The United Kingdom is one of the countries that most support Ukraine and has in fact become the European nation that has made the largest contributions to arms and capital. “The concern we have is that a little bit of Ukraine fatigue is starting to show up around the world,” the conservative leader said, adding that “it is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul.” .”
His philosophy is widely shared by US President Joe Biden, although several polls show that half of Americans prefer a quick solution to the war crisis and are reluctant to continue the war of attrition with Russia indefinitely. The ‘online’ space that Ukraine occupies has also decreased. According to the Axios website, the number of social network interactions related to the invasion has dropped significantly, from 109 million to 4.8 in just two months.
Though he fears that people will “get tired of it” and “look for something new,” Zelensky knows it’s inevitable. “Interest in war will decrease because there are many different problems in the world besides Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president said, before noting that the next strategy needs to be carefully considered so that “this daily marathon continues”. One option is to increase his public appearances, even if that is through videoconferences and recorded speeches that are distributed in forums and parliaments around the world. This week, Zelensky will hold a telematics meeting with NATO leaders meeting in Madrid.
The Ukrainian leader is also concerned about the internal feeling of those who believe in his country that the confrontation with Russia is far from over. A few days ago he addressed his own fellow citizens and the territorial leaders urging them all to commit themselves to the defense of Ukraine and deplored that the cores far from the Donbas, and now live in peace, think about rebuilding and returning to normalcy as soon as possible. “I don’t want to be critical, but the situation exists. And if people in our capital Kiev, which used to be occupied and blocked, forget very quickly because they want to live, then in the rest of the world “everything will be forgotten faster”.
Source: La Verdad
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