Is the tide turning for Ukraine in war with Russia? – The Latest
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What recent developments are causing optimism for Ukraine?
This is The Guardian.
What you have to understand is that war has changed. I mean, forget the Second World War movies you've seen, brave soldiers kind of running across fields and things like that. I mean, the Russians still do that, but with very little success.
President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing. There is still a moment now to stop this war.
We go on about talks and resolution and negotiations. It's kind of pseudo-diplomacy. The reality is that Putin doesn't want to stop this war.
The deadlock is over as the European Union finally agrees a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine and a massive package of sanctions against Russia as Prince Harry makes a surprise visit to Kyiv. Could this finally be a moment of optimism for Ukraine? From The Guardian's Today In Focus, this is The Latest with me, Lucy Hough. Well, dialing in from Kyiv is our senior international correspondent, Luke Harding. Luke, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming back on the show. So the last time we spoke was in February, which around the time of the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And the picture, as per your reporting, was incredible. pretty bleak. It was extremely cold and there was a sense that Ukraine wasn't making much progress in this kind of grinding war of attrition.
But the picture is now quite different, isn't it? There's been this approval by the European Union of a massive loan to Ukraine, but also Russia's progress on the battlefield seems to have stalled. What's it feeling like from where you are right at the heart of things?
I would say actually the mood in Ukraine is definitely more positive, a bit more optimistic than the last time we spoke, Lucy. I mean, for a start, the power is back. You can see the lights behind me in my hotel in Kiev. So Russia's attempt to basically freeze Ukraine out in the winter failed. And meanwhile, as you say, on the battlefield, the Russians have... really been making very slow progress. In fact, no progress at all practically in March with Ukrainian forces even having some kind of tactical success in the south where they've been recapturing a few smashed up villages in the gray zone. And the sort of international picture is complicated, but it's mixed. But there is good news for Ukraine as well.
This loan, 90 billion euros, Two thirds of it for Ukraine's military, a third to pay salaries for the economy. It's been stalled and stalled and stalled, blocked late last year by Viktor Orban and with a huge row between Hungary and Ukraine, which is, I mean, there are still tensions, of course, but there's a new prime minister in the shape of Peter Magyar. And it looks like this money is coming soon.
Yes, it's two things that have been agreed, isn't it? It's this 90 billion euro loan, as you say, which will have a very material impact on Ukraine's war effort. But also there's a big package of sanctions against Russia. So the response from Zelensky presumably is very positive to that, given, as you say, there's been such a standoff in this bloc by Hungary until Viktor Orban was ousted from power earlier this month.
Yeah, I mean, I think that's right.
How has the EU's loan impacted Ukraine's military efforts?
It was extremely acrimonious. It was really almost kind of open hostility between Hungary and Ukraine, with Orban saying that he would block the loan until oil started flowing through this pipeline. It's called the Druzhba pipeline, Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. The Ukrainians said that Russia had bombed it. It wasn't possible. Orban said they were lying. Now it looks like the money will come to Kyiv and also the oil will flow to Budapest. So this is a breakthrough. I mean, the other kind of quite interesting thing is a change of tone from Zelensky, because since Donald Trump came back to the White House last year, He's really done everything he can to try and please Trump to treat him like a reliable partner, an ally of Ukraine, even though, in my opinion, Trump has swapped sides and supports the Russians.
I mean, we can talk about to what degree.
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