A former chief of staff of the French air force has warned that kyiv will only be able to defend its current positions, "in the best of cases" A retired French general and former NATO commander has painted a chilling picture of Ukraine's prospects over the coming months in its conflict with Russia, saying the best kyiv and its Western backers can hope for is to avoid losing further ground this winter. "Ukrainians are going to have a terrible winter," Jean-Paul Palomeros, former chief of staff of the French Air Force, said Friday in an interview with online broadcaster Franceinfo. “We must not hide our eyes.
At best, they will be able to defend the positions Thailand Phone Number List they currently hold. We should not expect anything better.” Palomeros, who served as one of NATO's two strategic commanders after leaving the French Air Force in argued that European nations should increase their aid to Ukraine. "Europeans must invest better and more if they want to be able to support the war effort in Ukraine," he said. "At the moment, this is not the case." The retired general made his comments while French President Emmanuel Macron visited French troops in Jordan, where he promised to continue supporting Ukraine. "We cannot let Russia win," said the French leader.
However, Macron admitted in an interview Wednesday with broadcaster France 5 that the United States and its European allies had failed to cripple Russia's economy through sanctions. He also acknowledged that an uncertain political situation in the United States was clouding Ukraine's prospects. The latest round of European aid to Ukraine failed to pass earlier this month at the EU summit in Brussels, when Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban rejected the bloc's pledge of 50 billion euros ($54 billion). . Meanwhile, a $60 billion U.S. aid proposal for kyiv has stalled in Washington, where Republican lawmakers have opposed giving more money until kyiv and its supporters present a clear winning strategy.