As the war in Ukraine approaches the end of its second year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is facing the harsh reality that his Western-supported summer counteroffensive failed to produce any significant territorial gains and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has even less incentive to give any ground given that U.S. and Western support appears to be weakening.

In a New Year’s interview with the Economist, Zelensky sounded resolute but realistic about what can be achieved this year, absent the ability to break through Russia’s multilayered defenses to cause a collapse of the front lines in the occupied southern region of the country.