As the Russian-Ukrainian war drags on for longer and longer, Western countries supporting Ukraine are beginning to doubt the success of their war efforts against Russia. This is confirmed by the recently elected Czech President Petr Pavel’s statement to the Polish media, where he said that the door is beginning to close before a new Ukrainian counterattack. He also admitted that his country may not be able to maintain the current level of aid to Kyiv.
“The opportunity is open this year. However, after next winter, it will be extremely difficult to maintain the current level of support. War exhaustion means not only the reduction of human resources and equipment, and the destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine, but also the exhaustion of the countries providing assistance.” Pavel declared.
Another Central European country is making the effort perceives. The President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, stated that her country was morally and financially exhausted due to the support provided to Ukraine in one year and the influx of refugees from there.
Protracted war
Čaputová also said that the influx of war refugees could harm the Slovak economy and the standard of living of citizens living in the country. He emphasized that there are limits to the amount of support, and that Slovakia has already reached what makes the country vulnerable.
“Although the majority of residents are still willing to accept Ukrainian refugees, many feel that their standard of living will decrease with their arrival. However, the data clearly point to the successful integration of refugees into the labor market.” – said Čaputová.
Of the two countries, Slovakia in particular sacrificed most of its own military equipment for the benefit of Ukraine. Furthermore, he recently promised to hand over a significant part of his air force.
However, public opinion was divided about the war. According to a Globsec survey in December, 39% of Slovaks believe that NATO and the USA are responsible for the war in Ukraine. NATO research has established that support for the organization is lower here than in most member states.
Interestingly, Ukrainian President Zelensky himself admitted that if the army does not start to win victories, then the support of the West will decrease sooner or later in the midst of war exhaustion.