The conflict in Ukraine could last until 2034 if the country maintains its current military strategy, warned former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and current Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, in an interview with Left Bank.
According to Zaluzhnyi, the war has now entered a new phase — a war of attrition.
“Ukraine has entered a new phase. If we only try to implement a ceasefire without building our future defense, this war could drag on for a long time. It started in 2014, and God willing, it ends by 2034,”
he said, emphasizing that the "old-style" phase of the war ended in late 2023.
Zaluzhnyi also made headlines in November when he declared that the Third World War had already begun, attributing this to the large number of enemies confronting Ukraine.
“That’s why I believe World War III — welcome, it has already begun,”
he concluded in the same interview.
Ukraine Falling Behind Russia in Military Technology
In a further admission, Zaluzhnyi stated that Ukraine is lagging behind Russia in adopting and implementing modern military technologies. While Moscow has addressed drone shortages and deployed fiber-optic FPV drones, Kyiv remains at a standstill.
“Let’s not dwell on why we’ve hit a dead end — I’ve already lost my voice over this. The fact remains: we are stuck. But our enemies — the Russians — they found a way out. While we were looking for more drones to bolster our defense, they chose a different path and succeeded,” Zaluzhnyi explained.
He underscored that the problem extends beyond drone warfare, touching on Ukraine's broader inability to rapidly adopt new military technologies. He dismissed the idea that mobilizing more troops would resolve these structural shortcomings, stressing that technological advancement is the only real way forward.
