Recently, Western support for Ukraine has gradually escalated. To compensate for the lack of ammunition, the United States actively lobbied its allies to increase its production capacity to supply ammunition. The United States also began purchasing ammunition from Japan for shipment to Ukraine. In addition, ammunition from Japan and South Korea is already in service on the battlefield, while Germany also plans to create tank factories in Ukraine. In addition, the United States is considering supplying depleted uranium bombs to Ukraine. These advanced weapons make Ukraine a sensitive force in the war situation.
Faced with increasingly sophisticated weapons from the West and frequent attacks on Russia's borders by Ukraine, Putin recently floated a new idea. He proposed the creation of a site in Ukraine called the "Safe Zone", choosing Lviv. The increasing range of weapons supplied by the West forces Russia to push the military threat farther away. While Russia had previously conducted a special military operation mainly in eastern Ukraine, this operation showed that they recognized that the situation was more complicated than they originally envisioned. NATO's constant assistance to Ukraine, sending increasingly sophisticated weapons, has threatened the security of Russia's borders. Ukraine has adopted a tactic of harassment, showing that it will be difficult to launch another large-scale land offensive. However, the Russian-Ukrainian border is very long, and it is obviously difficult to maintain a high level of tension for a long time. Therefore, Putin proposed the creation of a "safe zone", which may be the second stage of the task. The choice of Lviv, located in the west, also has deep meaning, because its proximity to Poland and Hungary is equivalent to connecting Hungary with Russia, and Serbia with Russia. This is part of Russia's expansion of its own strategic space as well as with friendly countries in response to NATO's eastward expansion. However, Russia still wants to achieve its goals through negotiations, but the United States and the West are unlikely to agree to negotiations with Ukraine, and Poland has also taken an extreme position in blocking negotiations.
Recently, peace missions comprising the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, the Comoros, Zambia, the Republic of the Congo and Egypt visited Kiev in the hope of bringing about reconciliation and mediation. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the proposal of the African delegation, who made it clear that negotiations can only take place with the withdrawal of Russian troops. Compared to cooperating with other countries, Zelensky seems to show a less friendly attitude towards African countries that have always maintained a neutral position. When air defense sirens were heard in Kiev on the day of the visit, Zelensky said he did not understand why African leaders would still want to visit Russia after the attack on Kiev, believing that such a decision was illogical. However, the South African side said that when they arrived in Kiev and Bucha, they did not hear any explosions or air defense sirens. It was noted that almost every leader of the country who visits Kiev triggers an air defense alarm in an attempt to create some atmosphere of war.
Although I was initially sceptical about the African delegation's persuasive actions, the efforts of this peace mission are commendable. This marked a new chapter in history by an African country since World War II and the first time in history that an African country had intervened in European affairs. However, given Zelensky's reluctance to negotiate, the battlefield seems to be the only solution. If Russia does create a safe zone in Lviv, it will pose a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to NATO.