Ukraine Fatigue ‘Real & Increasing’, Admits NATO’s Newest Member State

One of NATO’s two newest members has issued a warning about war fatigue related to Ukraine. Asked in an interview in FT about Western fatigue, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen responded that “It’s real. And increasingly so.”

She described that the wars in Gaza and Lebanon have further served to heighten this fatigue, having also distracted the West’s attention from supporting Ukraine. “These two conflicts are, of course, very much linked,” she began.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen leading a demonstration, via Wiki Commons

“But for us Europeans, it would be important to realize that if we allow Russia to win in Ukraine, then essentially we end the credibility of our deterrence,” Valtonen continued.

“There is support for Ukraine, but what is sufficient? That is the question,” the diplomat said. “Many [countries] would like to think, since especially with the war waiting in the Middle East, it would be great if we found an answer to this war.”

And yet officials like Valtonen continue to try and frame the war as a matter of the Western alliance ‘winning’ or else risking its reputation. This very mentality contributes to prolonging the war, causing ‘war fatigue’ to grow in Europe and around the world.

The Finnish FM’s warnings seem also timed in connection with the US presidential election. Former President Donald Trump has been the only candidate to articulate that a negotiated end the to war must be urgently sought, and he now leads in many polls.

Trump recently said on the campaign trail, “I will end the war in Ukraine, stop the chaos in the Middle East, and Prevent World War Three.”

US and European media headlines have meanwhile continued sounding the alarm on depleted arms and ammo supplies. Germany has no more heavy arms to send, recent reports say, while the Pentagon has warned that “our supplies are not endless” in addressing missiles and ammo being shipped to both Israel and Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government under President Zelensky has been complaining that arms shipments from Western allies are growing smaller and smaller. He is still presenting his ‘victory plan’ to the nation in Ukraine’s parliament this week, but tellingly it was met with a lackluster response in Washington during his late September trip.