{"id":124534,"date":"2025-01-29T21:31:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T21:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wests-defeat-only-a-matter-of-time-former-ukrainian-minister-warns-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T21:31:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T21:31:48","slug":"wests-defeat-only-a-matter-of-time-former-ukrainian-minister-warns-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wests-defeat-only-a-matter-of-time-former-ukrainian-minister-warns-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"West's defeat 'only a matter of time', former Ukrainian minister warns – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

An expert says Russia has the potential to “take on” large European countries – and warns the West is on course to be defeated. Watch a Sky News report from the Ukrainian frontline as defence correspondent Deborah Haynes speaks to convicts who have been freed to fight.
Wednesday 29 January 2025 18:06, UK
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We’re pausing our coverage on the war in Ukraine for today and we’ll be back soon with more updates.
Before we go, here’s a reminder of today’s key lines:
Our security and defence editor Deborah Haynes<\/a> is in Ukraine and has spoken to convicts freed to fight for their country.
You can read her report here<\/a>.
The EU is due to discuss a fresh set of sanctions against Russia as the war in Ukraine nears the three-year mark. 
According to a document seen by Reuters, the European Commission proposed banning imports of Russian primary aluminium imports and restricting sales of video game consoles to Russia. 
Member states reportedly received the proposal on Tuesday and discussions were due to start on Wednesday afternoon.
It would be the 16th package of sanctions over Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, which started with a land, air and sea invasion of the country on 24 February 2022.
A Kremlin taskforce has claimed that the West is preparing to interfere in Russia’s 2026 federal parliamentary election.
The taskforce, which aims to prevent external interference, said “the commission records the active preparation of Western countries to organise attempts to interfere in the elections to the State Duma in 2026,” in a document cited by Russian state news agency TASS.
“The United States and its satellites have already made test attempts to interfere in the Russian elections in 2024,” it added.
It’s not the first accusation of election interference over the past few months. 
You may remember last month when Romania annulled the result of the first round of voting<\/a> in its presidential election after Russia was accused of operating a “mass influence operation”.
Moscow has told the Australian government that one of its citizens is alive after being captured while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Oscar Jenkins, a 32-year-old teacher, was taken into captivity late last year.
“The Australian government has received confirmation from Russia that Oscar Jenkins is alive and in custody,” the country’s foreign minister Penny Wong said.
Reports had emerged earlier this month suggesting Jenkins had been killed by Russian forces, which prompted an inquiry into his welfare.
“We still hold serious concerns for Jenkins as a prisoner of war,” Wong added.
She then called on Russia to release him from captivity, adding “Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law, including humane treatment.”
Ukraine urgently needs to start importing significant amounts of gas in order to meet its needs, the former head of the country’s transit operator has warned.
Sergiy Makogon said the volume of gas in Ukraine’s storage facilities had fallen to near the critical mark of 10%.
“Our storage facilities are gradually but surely approaching the level of 10% fullness,” Makogon explained, adding that this would reduce possible withdrawals to 60 million cubic metres per day.
“This will mean that we will not be able to meet gas demand through production and underground gas facilities, and we will need to import gas on an emergency basis,” he added.
Makogon explained storage facilities were around 20% full a year ago and between 22-23% full at the same time in 2023.
Daily gas production cannot cover all of Ukraine’s needs in the cold season, with the country pumping gas into storage during the summer for use in the winter. 
Russia has said it held “frank” discussions with Syria in a bid to keep its two military bases in the country.
It is seeking to retain its naval base in Tartus as well as the Hmeimim air base near the port city of Latakia.
While it’s unclear what Syria is demanding in return, the country’s new leader Ahmed al Sharaa has reportedly asked Moscow to hand over former president Bashar al Assad who fled when he was toppled in December, a source told Reuters.
The new Syrian administration said it had “stressed that restoring relations must address past mistakes, respect the will of the Syrian people and serve their interests” during talks with a Russian delegation.
Syria has also held talks with Ukraine since the fall of Assad, and said it hopes for “strategic partnerships” between the two countries.
“Certainly the Syrian people and the Ukrainian people have the same experience and the same suffering that we endured over 14 years,” Syrian foreign minister Assad Hassan al Shaibani said.
Ukraine sent food aid shipments to Syria after the fall of Assad, with Zelenskyy, adding: “We wish Syria and its people safety, stability and recovery. We know the true value of these things.”
Russia has consistently tried to use “information operations” to deter Western support for Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
It comes after senior NATO official James Appathurai told the European Parliament yesterday the alliance had faced acts of sabotage in recent years, including train derailments and arson.
He also pointed to an alleged Kremlin plot to assassinate the head of German arms maker Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, adding that Russia aimed to “create disquiet to undermine support for Ukraine”.
The ISW said Moscow’s sabotage campaign directly targeting NATO states supports their assessment that Vladimir Putin sees Russia as waging a hybrid war directly against NATO.
Russia’s “undeclared war” with the West is already under way, an expert has warned, and failure to acknowledge this makes defeat “only a matter of time”.
Oleksandr Danylyuk, who specialises in Russian multidimensional warfare, said Moscow is “increasingly emphasising” it sees no prerequisites for a ceasefire and continues to increase weapons production.
Writing for think tank the Royal United Services Institute<\/b><\/a>, Danylyuk said: “All these indicators point to the intensification of Russian efforts not only to militarily seize Ukraine, but also to destabilise and capture the West.
“Western leaders are stubbornly trying not to notice this, to some extent imitating the behaviour of their Ukrainian colleagues on the eve of the Russian invasion.”
Despite the fact Vladimir Putin has not declared war on the West, Danylyuk said it is well known to Russian citizens.
The country’s media, opinion leaders, civilian and military representatives have “repeatedly stated that Russia is waging war against NATO in Ukraine”, he said.
“Undoubtedly, Russia is not ready to go to war with the forces of a united Europe, but it has sufficient potential to take on individual, even relatively large, countries,” he added.
Danylyuk added: “Russia’s undeclared war against the West is already underway, and the stubborn refusal to acknowledge this fact by most Western leaders makes the West’s defeat only a matter of time.”
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has opened a criminal probe into defence minister Rustem Umerov and will investigate whether he abused his authority.
As we reported yesterday, Ukraine’s government sacked its deputy defence minister following accusations of insufficient arms purchases.
Western officials have warned Ukraine that a rift between the country’s defence minister and the arms procurement chief could jeopardise trust in the country.
Representatives of G7 nations called on Kyiv to resolve the situation “and focus on keeping defence procurement going”.
Umerov requested the removal of deputy defence minister Dmytro Klimenkov and said in a statement that the agency had “inexplicably transformed into an ‘Amazon'” and its purchases were too publicly visible.
In response to the claims, the agency said that it made “significant progress” in boosting supply and lowering prices.
Earlier we brought you up to speed with Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s comments overnight on his hopes for working with US president Donald Trump (see our 8.08am post).
In an interview with Fox News, the Ukrainian president urged Trump to be on his country’s side.
Zelenskyy has now taken to X to expand on his comments, and said “ending the hot phase of the war is critical”.
He took aim at Washington’s “absence” in the Minsk agreements – signed in 2014 and 2015 in an attempt to secure a ceasefire between Ukraine’s government and Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.
Zelenskyy also stated that Putin could have been forced into “real peace” had the US been involved.
“A strong America could have forced Putin into real peace, not just a frozen conflict,” Zelenskyy said.
“I am confident that if President Trump wants to, he can force Putin into peace.”
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