In the West, they agree that the fighting will “cool down” a little in winter.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the conditions for a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine “are not present now”, so the Western allies should continue supplying Ukraine with weapons.

Stoltenberg noted that in the winter both sides will seek to regroup and rearm their forces, the Financial Times quotes.

“There are no conditions (for a diplomatic solution) now,” he said, adding that Russia shows no signs of wanting a peaceful end to the war.

“The more we want a peaceful solution, the more pressing is the need to provide military support to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

The NATO Secretary General also explained that Russia is trying to “freeze” the war before “launching a larger-scale offensive in the spring.”

“Ukraine now has momentum,” Stoltenberg said, adding that in the capitals of NATO countries, “they are constantly considering what systems (weapons) we want to supply” to Kyiv.

War in Ukraine in winter – forecasts

American intelligence predicts a decrease in the pace of fighting in the winter period. According to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haynes, both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries will attempt to retool and resupply in preparation for a counteroffensive after winter.

The US also believes that Russia will focus on strikes on critical infrastructure in order to “freeze” Ukraine and undermine “morale” in the rear.

On the contrary, Israel Defense Forces officer Yigal Levin emphasizes one important advantage of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation over the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation – uniforms. The Ukrainian command can use this by confusing the enemy.

At the same time, as The Guardian writes, the delivery of ammunition to the front line will slow down due to weather conditions.

Skeptical sentiments did not undermine Western military support for Ukraine. At the seventh meeting of “Ramstein”, a decision was made to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine with weapons in order to “not slow down” the offensive.

The head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, believes that winter is on the side of the Ukrainian army, since it will be better equipped than the Russian one, and will continue to undermine Russian supply lines.

According to the analysts of the Institute for the Study of War, in winter the conditions for fighting “will be much more favorable for Kyiv than for Moscow”, so the Western allies should take advantage of this.