It may still be a long time before the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia ends, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said. He added that his country as well as the other G7 nations are prepared to support Kiev for the long haul.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Seventh Global Environment Facility Assembly in Vancouver on Saturday, Trudeau said that the Group of Seven leaders have always known that Ukraine’s counteroffensive “was going to be a long process.”
“Certainly from the conversations we’ve had at the G7 and NATO, we are ready for a war that will take as long as it needs to, because we cannot and must not let Russia win,” he added.
Ukraine launched its much-hyped counteroffensive in early June in the east and south of the country, but has yet to make any significant gains. Senior officials in Kiev, including President Vladimir Zelensky, have acknowledged that it is going more slowly than anticipated.
Western media outlets have reported heavy losses among Ukrainian forces as they try to breach Russian defenses.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed earlier this month that Kiev had lost over 43,000 military personnel and nearly 5,000 pieces of military equipment since the start of the counteroffensive.
The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous officials in Washington, reported on Thursday that the US is unlikely to give Ukraine “anywhere near the same level” of military aid in 2024 compared to this year.
On Friday, Bloomberg claimed that European officials are growing increasingly concerned that US President Joe Biden could “nudge” Ukraine toward peace talks next year.
Earlier this month, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on Telegram that hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could drag on for years or even decades.
For Russia, it is an “existential” matter, he said.
He added that Moscow has “no choice: either we will destroy their hostile political regime, or the collective West will eventually tear Russia to pieces.”
He also called into question the West’s willingness to continue supporting Kiev for the long haul, saying: “someone else’s war sooner or later becomes boring, costly and irrelevant.”
Since the start of the conflict last February, the West has actively been supporting Ukraine with weapons and ammunition deliveries. Moscow has warned that this aid will only serve to prolong the bloodshed, while risking a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.