THE HAGUE, December 31. /TASS/. The North Atlantic alliance, which supports Kiev in the Ukrainian conflict, is on the losing side, and all parties to the conflict are aware of that," Dutch political scientist Kees Van der Pijl has told TASS.

"NATO is losing as it keeps supporting Kiev in the conflict, and no one doubts this at this point," said the expert, who was professor of international relations at the University of Sussex.

At the same time, the expert believes that there is still a threat of the conflict becoming a protracted one because of Ukraine’s right-wing extremists’ reluctance to admit their defeat.

"The bitter legacy of 2014 still exists in Ukraine in the form of active neo-Nazi forces. They realize that Kiev has already lost this phase of its conflict with Russia, but they don’t want to admit it. With the West’s assistance, they are getting ready for a lengthy standoff," he said.

Moscow has repeatedly said that the special military operation will end when all its goals are achieved. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said they can be achieved either as a result of the special military operation, or as a result of negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin listed the objectives: demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, its neutral status, as well as recognition of the prevailing realities on earth.