February 24 is a year since Russia began to invade Ukraine, and in that context US President Joe Bide visits Zelenski in the capital of Kiev. It has pledged $500 million worth of weaponry and the White House has expanded it to "EE.UU. protect the Ukrainian people for as long as necessary.” Biden assured Zelenski that “they have an unwavering commitment to democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity” in Ukraine.

Zelenski has thanked through Telegram for the support of EE.UU. “The first appeal of the night of 24 February last year, our negotiations, our struggle and the constant attention to the defence of Ukrainian democracy, and the personal contribution of President Biden to strengthening the position of freedom in the world, is something that will always be remembered in history.” The visit to Kiev shows that EE.UU. will continue to supply arms to the war in Ukraine. Zelenski stressed that the visit of the US President, the first of the last 15 years, is “the most important visit for the relationship between America and Ukraine.”

Along the same lines is the European Union, where Josep Borrell, head of EU diplomatura, warns that Ukraine should be "military protected" immediately, arguing that Russia is preparing an attack. During these days it will be agreed how to channel this EU assistance.

State Secretary of EE.UU, Antony Blinken, also warns that China intends to offer “deadly help” to Russia, telling it that it has evidence of this, although it has not demonstrated it. It says that this aid would pose problems for China in its relations with other countries. However, on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, China’s Head of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, announced that they will continue to work towards “reaching a political agreement in the Ukraine crisis” and that these days they will provide more information to “promote peace”.

Long conflict

Asier Blas, professor of Political Sciences at the UPV/EHU and collaborator of ARGIA, has read the war, coinciding with the celebration of the year. He says that for the time being Russia has suffered a “failure” in the military, “although the main victim is the Ukrainian people,” he explains in number 2814 of ARGIA.

From the point of view of the economic dimension, however, “the European Union is the main victim”, and so far the West has been the loser. In Blas’ words, the United States is the most “strengthened”, as explained in EITB: “The war it had planned has occurred and has brought many advantages. Among other things, it has anchored the European Union to its interests and colonized it economically.”

It expects that the conflict will last a long time and that 2023 will become “very dangerous” because Ukraine will receive more weapons. It says that achieving a peace agreement by the two countries is “very difficult”, given the current situation: “Russia has lost a lot because the war has lasted long and needs a victory. Ukraine has suffered an economic and military disaster, particularly as regards the death toll.”

In the coming days, more measures will be announced by the authorities and the fate of the war will be discovered, one year after the explosion.