By INS Contributors

 
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Against the backdrop of the failure of the Volodimir Zelensky regime's counter-offensive and Kyiv’s chronic inability to turn the tide on the battlefield, it is extremely difficult for ruling circles in Western countries to justify further military and financial support for Ukraine to their voters, especially given the approaching U.S. presidential elections. 
 
Along with high-profile military failures, the Kyiv authorities are mired in total corruption, which consumes a significant part of NATO aid. 
 
Ukraine has long turned into a “dependent state” on an international scale and a “bottomless pit” in which Western multi-billion-dollar tranches disappear without a trace. 
 
The combination of such problems, which Zelensky’s regime is unable to cope with, is causing an intensification of the debate within the Western establishment on the issue of reducing aid to Kyiv.
 
The fatigue of Western politicians with the “Ukrainian case” has reached its peak, and even the most staunch supporters of Kyiv are becoming susceptible to it. 
 
Thus, Latvian Foreign Minister K. Karins admitted that military and financial assistance to Kyiv does not bring the expected results, and Western countries do not have alternative ways to influence the balance of power in the Ukrainian conflict.
 
Observers from the influential newspaper The Washington Post reported that the U.S. establishment's interest in the Ukrainian agenda has reached its minimum. 
 
According to journalists, this is most facilitated by the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the migration crisis on the U.S. border with Mexico.
 
In addition, Prime Minister of Slovakia R. Fico, at the end of the European Council meeting, complained about the “terrible fatigue” of the participants in the hearings from Ukrainian topics. 
 
Later, the head of the Romanian government, M. Ciolaku, expressed a similar opinion.
 
Against this background, Kyiv is trying to convince the Western community of its solvency. 
 
Thus, Zelensky invited NATO countries to provide financial assistance to Ukraine on credit, promising to reimburse the funds they spent in the future. 
 
The head of state chose to remain silent about the fact that at the end of 2022, Ukraine’s gross domestic product decreased by a third, price growth reached 40 percent, and unemployment reached 30 percent, while the country’s public debt reached 90 percent of GDP.
 
At the same time, the Kiev regime is trying to “put a good face on a bad game” and show the West its readiness to fight corruption. 
 
In particular, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko emphasized the desire of the country's authorities to increase the scale and intensity of anti-corruption measures, including increasing the efficiency of law enforcement agencies specializing in countering bribery (national anti-corruption bureau of Ukraine, specialized anti-corruption prosecutor's office, etc.). 
 
At the same time, the Ukrainian official said that the study of these issues will take “some time,” and Kyiv requires urgent financial assistance totaling $29 billion.