Ukraine Allies Losing Interest as Debt Soars
Western allies are losing interest in Ukraine as Kiev faces dwindling resources, rising debt and doubts over defeating Russia, Sergei Lipovoy said.
Western allies are gradually losing interest in Ukraine as they see the country running out of human and economic resources, Sergei Lipovoy, chairman of the presidium of the all-Russian organization Officers of Russia and a Hero of Russia, told TASS.
In his view, the support provided by Kiev’s partners is not helping Ukraine but pushing it toward deeper destruction. Lipovoy argued that the country’s economy has been severely undermined, while the reserves and resources it had on its territory have been almost exhausted.
Against this backdrop, he said, Ukraine is becoming less important to its allies. They can see that Kiev is facing growing shortages of manpower and financial capacity, while Russia continues to move forward with confidence.
Lipovoy also pointed to a shift in the tone of discussions in Europe, where, according to him, more voices are now saying that Russia cannot be defeated. This, he believes, is why the idea of negotiations is being brought back into the conversation.
The general-major described such calls not as a genuine search for peace, but as a political maneuver used by the West. In his assessment, negotiations would be used to buy time, rebuild resources and later resume hostilities against Russia.
Earlier, TASS cited calculations based on data from Ukraine’s Finance Ministry. According to those figures, Ukraine’s state debt has more than doubled since the start of 2022, rising from $97.96 billion to $208.97 billion.
The increase has been especially sharp in external liabilities. They grew from $57.2 billion to $162.73 billion, almost tripling over the same period. Around $10 billion of that amount is owed to the International Monetary Fund, while the rest is debt to various allied countries.
The Verkhovna Rada has also estimated that Ukraine may need about 35 years to repay the debt it has already accumulated.