UEA expert says "stalemate" in Ukraine war is likely to remain despite counter-offensive
Ukrainian forces are now moving to re-take Russian-occupied territory after months of planning
Last updated 12th Jun 2023
A UEA expert in international relations says a stalemate between Russia and Ukraine is likely to remain, at least in the short term.
It's despite Zelenskyy's counter-offensive now being underway after months of planning, not long after a huge dam in the Russian-held region of Kherson was destroyed.
"The defense still has a major advantage over the offense"
Dr Ra Mason is from the University of East Anglia:
"The dam is a fairly limited area given the hundreds of kilometres of frontline. So, famously in war even to this day- even with all the advances in technology- the defense still has a major advantage over the offense. Once things become more static that lends itself to a stalemate."
"The Ukraine has come out and very publicly blamed Russia for the dam explosion, at the moment we really don't know if that's true. If the Nordstream explosion is anything to go by then it might well not be. But what we do know is that it creates a lot of confusion and uncertainty."
"There is always space for diplomacy, regardless of the situation"
"The involvement of Para-military forces creates further insecurity in Russia which will very likely mean that Russia will double-down on domestic control and continue to blame any security breaches of insecurity on Ukraine or it's allies.
"There is always space for diplomacy, regardless of the situation. That doesn't mean that we condone Russia's actions or accept territorial gains, but the idea that because we're unhappy with the situation as it is, we shouldn't engage is diplomacy is frankly ridiculous."