UN Ambassador of Russia: "6 Months into the Ukraine War, No Signs of Peace Negotiations"

"UN Fails to Mediate... West Focused Solely on Isolating Russia"
Power Concentration in Crimea Ahead of Ukraine Independence Day on 24th

On the 21st (local time), the Ukrainian government displayed Russian-made tanks and vehicles captured during the war with Russia in downtown Kyiv, making them accessible to the public. This event is interpreted as a demonstration of the Ukrainian military's combat achievements ahead of the Independence Day on the 24th, which commemorates Ukraine's independence from the former Soviet Union. There are concerns that large-scale clashes between the two countries may occur around the Crimean Peninsula around the time of Ukraine's Independence Day. Kyiv, Ukraine = Reuters·Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its sixth month, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Geneva office has warned that the possibility of peace negotiations with Ukraine is disappearing, and the war could last much longer than initially expected. Both sides are reportedly concentrating their forces around the southern Crimean Peninsula region, preparing for a large-scale offensive. With the war likely to extend beyond a year, concerns are growing that the global inflation problem will continue.

On the 21st (local time), Ambassador Gennady Gatilov said in an interview with the British Financial Times (FT), "Six months have passed since the conflict with Ukraine began, but there is no sign of diplomatic contact," adding, "As Western military support for Ukraine continues, attempts to resume peace talks keep failing, and it is impossible to predict how long the conflict will last."

Ambassador Gatilov further criticized the UN and Western countries, accusing them of having no interest in mediating peace negotiations. He stated, "The UN has politicized this war and fallen into a quagmire, severely damaging the organization's authority and failing to fulfill its role as a mediator," and criticized, "There has been no contact from Western delegations, and Western countries view the current situation merely as a tool to isolate Russia, showing no real concern for Ukraine."

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Especially with the sixth month of the war coinciding with Ukraine's Independence Day on the 24th, there is a possibility of large-scale battles erupting between Ukraine and Russia. Every year on August 24th, Ukraine commemorates its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, and it is expected that Ukraine will launch a major counteroffensive around this Independence Day.

According to the U.S. Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to amass troops around the southern Crimean Peninsula and the Zaporizhzhia area, maintaining bombardments on ammunition depots and other logistical facilities. In particular, Ukraine anticipates that Russia will push forward with a referendum to annex occupied territories within Ukraine as Russian territory during the local elections in September, and is reportedly preparing a large-scale offensive in response.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told The Washington Post (WP) in an interview, "While waiting for Western weapons support ahead of a counterattack in the southern region, we are employing a strategy to strike the enemy's rear and deplete their forces."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

The United States is also strengthening additional weapons support. On the 19th, the U.S. government announced an additional weapons aid package worth $775 million to Ukraine. This is the second-largest monthly aid package since the $1 billion support in February, including for the first time 15 ScanEagle reconnaissance drones and air-to-ground missiles (HARM) capable of targeting Russian air defense radars.

As the war is expected to last longer than anticipated, concerns are growing over prolonged rapid inflation. The New York Times (NYT) analyzed, "The six-month-long Ukraine war has triggered inflation in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy, and combined with fiscal expansion due to COVID-19, has driven rapid price increases," adding, "It will be very difficult to stabilize prices in Europe, especially, until the war ends."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.