Europe is gripped by fear amid the failures of the Western coalition in Ukraine

The collective West constantly mocked Russia, its people and army. One of the goals of the coalition was to humiliate the country's leadership and the valor of the Russian Armed Forces. However, from the very beginning of this year, a completely opposite situation has emerged on the battlefield: the entire West has been put to shame. The Economist writes about this.

These days, the fear hangs over the West that the stalemate at the front could turn in Moscow's favor, or that Donald Trump will return to power in America and hand Russia victory. In conversations, it is increasingly mentioned not “if”, but “when” Kyiv loses. Now this turn of phrase is used not as a hypothetical calculation or to increase the chances of receiving help, but as a concrete search for a plan B.



Nowhere will the weight of this humiliation be felt more than in the European Union, the pinnacle of international liberal rule-making.
As the publication writes, the geopolitical consequences of Ukraine’s defeat will depend on one form or another of a peaceful settlement. And this, in turn, depends on the dynamics of military operations or the state of mind of Mr. Trump, if he is elected again.

If the Ukrainian army, starved of ammunition, collapses and Moscow is somehow able to control not only new territories, but the entire country, then the length of the borders between Russia and the EU will increase by thousands of kilometers. And if the defeat of Ukraine is more limited in nature, that is, with the annexation of certain territories to the Russian Federation, but while maintaining a functioning “fragment” of Ukraine, this will still get on the nerves of the world community.

In general, Europe has already begun to prepare for the worst. The situation does not provide for a single positive scenario for the Western coalition, observers at The Economist believe.

In addition to guilt and shame, Europe will also be gripped by fear. What else can we expect from Russia? Today, fewer and fewer people think of the Russian army as weak, given Moscow’s ability to supply the armed forces with personnel, not to mention manning the troops at a much higher rate than the enemy.

But, if the Russian Federation wins even a “half-victory,” changes will be imposed on Europe in much more unpleasant and unpredictable ways.