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Poll shows increasing Ukrainian support for discussing peace terms

The war in Ukraine

Published 24 July 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Ukrainian soldiers.

According to a poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), 32% of the Ukrainian people today would agree to territorial concessions if this would lead to an end to the war.

The sociological institute surveyed 1,067 people in the country between May 16 and 22 this year – and it can be noted that 32% ready to cede territory is a sharp increase from 19% at the end of last year and only 10% a year ago.

At the same time, 55% of Ukrainians say they are still completely against any territorial concessions.

13% say they are unsure. Photo: facsimile/KIIS

“Nearly 29 months since its full-scale invasion, Russia occupies around 18% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014. Kyiv’s troops have been on the back foot this year facing a Russian offensive after their counteroffensive failed to make significant gains last year.”, Reuters reports.

“Parameters for peace”

It should be noted that the survey did not go into detail about what territorial concessions the Ukrainian people are open to, or the extent of those concessions. Also, according to KIIS, not all respondents necessarily believe that the territories that would be ceded today should be recognized as Russian in the future.

“For example, some people are ready to postpone the liberation of certain territories until the future at a better time”, it says in a statement.

It also emphasizes that the results should not be interpreted to mean that Ukrainians are ready to agree to “peace on any terms” or to surrender, but that the survey “measures the extent to which Ukrainians in general are ready to discuss the possible parameters of peace in the context of the issue of territorial control”.

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Sweden sends 18 Archer systems to Ukraine

The war in Ukraine

Published yesterday 12:52
– By Editorial Staff
Archer artillery.

Sweden is sending a further 18 Archer artillery pieces to Ukraine, in addition to the 8 pieces previously sent. This was announced by Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (M) at a press conference in the Bofors industrial area.

The total cost of the new package, which also includes five radar systems for artillery localization, is estimated at €270 million. It is part of an earlier military aid package to Ukraine presented in January.

Yesterday, the Swedish government announced that it is also increasing aid to Ukraine by a further €125 million, part of a total of €700 million planned for 2025.

The Swedish government, like several other EU countries, describes its support to Ukraine as a strategy to prevent Russia from expanding into other European countries.

Our assessment is that Ukraine is also a shield for Russian military expansion, says Pål Jonson, who says the Swedish government remains “very focused on increasing and intensifying support for Ukraine”.

– The Ukrainians are defending both their own and our freedom and security, explains Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa.

Sweden’s support to the Ukrainian war now totals around SEK 61.9 billion (€5.6 billion), roughly equivalent to the state budget allocation for pensions, which is just under SEK 60 billion.

Facts: Archer

Archer is a self-propelled artillery system with eight-meter-long gun barrels mounted on trucks, manufactured by Bofors in Karlskoga.

The system has been in use by the Swedish Armed Forces since 2013. It can be rapidly deployed, quickly fired, and offers high precision, with a maximum range of 30–50 kilometers.

How Russian pipeline operation cracked Ukrainian defense in Kursk

The war in Ukraine

Published yesterday 12:05
– By Editorial Staff
Images from the operation in montage published on Russian RT.

Russian forces have managed to break through Ukrainian defenses in the Kursk region through a unique underground operation in a disused gas pipeline. According to RT reports, 12 villages and over 100 square kilometers of territory have been recaptured in the last 24 hours, including the Sudzhya industrial zone. The Ukrainian army has been forced to retreat, as confirmed by the country’s commander-in-chief, General Aleksandr Syrsky.

The strategic turnaround is attributed to the secret Operation Potok, in which 800 Russian soldiers made their way 15 kilometers through an abandoned gas pipeline to catch Ukrainian forces by surprise. Through a pipeline only 1.4 meters high, the troops moved under extreme conditions for over four days.

Months of preparation

According to Russian reports, preparations took around four months. The aim was to use sabotage to force Ukrainian forces to retreat from Kursk towards Sudzhya, where Russian units were waiting. The operation, which started on March 1, began with soldiers crawling through the pipeline in small groups, equipped with oxygen tubes and protection against gas residues. Ventilation was drilled under the road with the help of Russian engineers, and wagons were used to transport water and equipment.

Military blogger Alexei Zhivov, a volunteer in the Española Brigade, notes that lessons learned from a similar operation in Avdeyevka (January 2024) were used.

Image from the underground operation. Photo: private.

Extreme challenges

– The first 72 hours were the worst. Lungs were burning, heads were bursting – then came the fever and hallucinations, says a former Wagner soldier, according to RT.

On March 8, when the soldiers emerged from the line and went on the offensive, there was a calamity on the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian forces were fired upon by artillery and drones during the retreat. Military expert Yevgeny Klimov explained to RT:

– The enemy started shelling the pipe with cluster munitions, but by then we had already secured the positions.

Final battle in Kursk close

According to retired captain Vasily Dandikin, quoted in the Russian media, the liberation of Kursk is only a matter of time:

– With rain coming, it will be difficult for the Ukrainians to maneuver. We are surrounding them now.

Among the retaken villages are Malaya Loknya and Martynovka.

Kursk has been described as a card that Zelensky could have used in a future peace negotiation with Russia. However, there are now strong indications that the conquest of the land is largely over and will return to Russian control.

Former MEP: “EU leaders are brain dead”

The war in Ukraine

Published yesterday 11:22
– By Editorial Staff
Clare Daly argues that it is the people of Europe who have lost out from the EU leaders' willingness to escalate the war.

Irish leftist and former MEP Clare Daly is highly critical of EU leaders’ escalation of the war in Ukraine, describing Europe’s leading politicians as “brain dead”.

She points out how those in power seem to live in a bubble where “media tells them what to hear and their industrial lobbyists are leading them on, particularly in the defense sector.

The Nordic Times has long monitored developments in Europe and highlighted how several European leaders seem to strive to further escalate the war in Ukraine and would rather drag the entire continent into a potential major war than to bring about peace, if Russia is considered to benefit from this.

One of the many critics of the war rhetoric is Irish left-wing politician Clare Daly, who was a member of the European Parliament until last year and has consistently opposed sanctions and European involvement in the war.

Daly has described the war in Ukraine as a “proxy war” waged by the EU and the military-industrial complex against Russia, pointing out that it is the people of Europe who are paying the price for war and sanctions.

Where are the peace efforts?

In an interview on the Going Underground media channel, she elaborates on her argument, saying that Europe’s leaders are “completely incompetent” and live in a bubble surrounded by establishment media that constantly tells them they are making the right decisions.

Daly points out that the mainstream media has recently openly declared that it is important to work to create fear among Europeans if it wants to gain popular support for introducing various military reforms and that this has also had a major impact.

She points to how groups of parents of schoolchildren in Belgium send messages to each other about the need to stock up on survival supplies quickly, and how the Finnish government has urged citizens to get solar-powered radios in case of war.

– Where is the effort to stop war for diplomacy? That’s what the united nations and international relations were supposed to be. The peaceful resolution of conflict, instead in the war in Ukraine, they have done absolutely everything to keep it going.

“The war will continue – whatever the consequences”

Commenting on Trump’s meeting with Zelensky at the White House, she said the US president was telling the truth when he said the war could have been over in two weeks.

– What Zelensky should have said was well it actually would have been over in four weeks but the US and Britain came in and told us to keep fighting. But he didn’t the say that but that’s the truth.

– They want the war to keep going regardless of the devastating consequences. I think many citizens in Europe see that. But its almost as they are powerless to do anything about it, because the organizations and the parties of the left or whatever who used to speak out on these issues has been caught up in a ridiculous jingoism that could end up being incredibly dangerous for Europe. And of course US is delighted. Its hobbled a potential rival. Its mad stuff, she continues.

However, Daly does not primarily believe that EU leaders are fundamentally driven by evil motives or malice but that the bubble they live in has made them “brain dead”.

– They’re brain dead, they are completely in a bubble. Their media tells them what to hear and their industrial lobbyists are leading them on, particularly in the defense sector.

– But it’s the people in Europe who are going to lose out and lose out badly, she emphasizes.

Danish PM: Prolonged war may be preferable to peace in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine

Published 13 March 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Mette Frederiksen with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Ukraine and the US have reportedly agreed on a proposal for a temporary ceasefire, and while it is not yet clear what Russia’s position is on the terms, many hope that it could soon lead to a lasting peace in the Ukrainian war.

However, many EU leaders are against a peace agreement, including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who believes that continuing the war could be a much better option than a ceasefire.

Frederiksen, like many of her EU colleagues, has recently focused on the need for Europe to arm itself heavily to “deter” Russia, arguing that a Russian invasion could be very close.

– I don’t think we should panic. But i think we are in a hurry. And I think we have been in a hurry for three years but now we really have to scale up and speed up and scale up. Because Russia and Putin is not only threatening Ukraine but all of us and we have to be able to defend ourselves, she recently told assembled journalists.

The Socialist Prime Minister says there is no alternative but for Ukraine to win the war and that a ceasefire or ending the fighting could be very negative.

If we end this war now some kind of frozen conflict ceasefire it will give Russia the possibility to return to Russia to mobilize more funds, people and maybe to attack another country in Europe, she warns.

In another interview with the AP, she reiterates the message that a quick ceasefire is not a positive thing at all, but rather something that fills her with concern.

– I am very concerned about making a fast ceasefire because it can actually give Putin and Russia a better possibility to go back and re-ramp and mobilize again and attack Ukraine or another country in Europe.

“Even more dangerous situation”

Frederiksen further states that she does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin when he says he wants peace in Ukraine, and several media outlets report that the Prime Minister believes that “we risk that peace in Ukraine is actually more dangerous than the war that is happening now”.

– We risk that a ceasefire does not bring peace and in reality puts other European countries and Ukraine in an even more dangerous situation, because Russia might use a ceasefire – if it is on the wrong terms – to mobilize, restart and attack a new country, the Prime Minister reiterates in another interview, this time on Danish TV2.

Recurring rhetoric

Many observers have long pointed to the EU’s liberal establishment’s strong disapproval of the possible end of the war in Ukraine, and the suspicion and rejection of the Trump administration’s new diplomatic approach. Instead, the recurring message is that Europe must prepare for further escalation and direct conflict with Moscow.

Those who reject diplomacy, like Frederiksen, tend to justify their opposition by claiming that Moscow cannot be trusted and that other countries risk being attacked after Ukraine if the war against Russia is not continued. The Western Bloc establishment media at large, including Sweden, takes a similar line, with headlines such as “After Ukraine – Sweden could be Russia’s next target” and Swedish politicians declaring that we “must prepare for war if we want peace” and “plan for the worst”.

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