WASHINGTON, June 27. /TASS/. Ukraine will not be able to recapture the territory it has lost if its armed forces do not turn the tide on the battlefield in the next few weeks, Washington Post columnist Graham Allison wrote on Monday.
"If Ukrainian forces are no more successful in the weeks ahead than they have been so far, Ukraine will not recapture all of its territory for 16 years," the journalist said.
"If Ukrainian forces remain bogged down over the course of the summer, we should expect the political dimension of this war to determine events. Many of Ukraine’s supporters in Europe and even in the United States will join the global south’s chorus calling for both sides to stop the killing and begin serious negotiations about a ceasefire," Allison opined.
According to him, if Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement or a ceasefire, "expect all parties to declare ‘victory’" and "the world will celebrate the end of fighting and call that ‘peace’."
The Russian Defense Ministry earlier reported the Ukrainian forces have been making unsuccessful offensive attempts since June 4. On June 22, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said that Ukraine’s losses in manpower since the start of the counteroffensive campaign had exceeded 13,000. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that the Ukrainian forces had not achieved success in any areas. According to Bloomberg, the West recognizes the significant losses of Ukraine. In turn, Politico quoted representatives of the Washington administration as saying that further assistance to Kiev would depend on the success of the counterattack.