As the New Year enters, and in the wake of the military escalation in Ukraine, which had intensified during the Christmas and New Year period, experts and analysts believe that

the war, which is almost entering its second year, is about to enter a large-scale escalation phase, based during the winter on air operations and mutual artillery and missile shelling remotely, in preparation for a major ground war before spring arrives.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned in this regard of a massive Russian attack that is being prepared for, demanding to prepare for a long-term war in Ukraine.

Observers believe that these Atlantic warnings, accompanied by a significant increase in the pace of military operations, on the part of Moscow, which expanded the range of its missile and air targets and parades on the eve of the New Year and at the beginning of it, or on the part of Kiev, which killed dozens of Russian soldiers in makeyevka, Donetsk, during a bombing by US HIMARS missiles, and the subsequent Russian response its new title is pricing, not lull during 2023.

Observers warned that the most likely scenario is that this year will witness an expansion of military operations in Ukraine, after months of their decline, especially with the Russian withdrawal from Kherson.

Stoltenberg, despite his talk about a long war, also indicates that it will end with negotiations in the end, and so NATO is seeking to strengthen Kiev's defense capabilities to prevent its defeat in front of the Russians, which puts it in a good negotiating position later when the conditions for dialogue mature and the parties reach the point of exhaustion, leading them to leave the dialogue table and exchange concessions and bargains.

The next few months will witness a military escalation in the Ukrainian field, in the context of the two sides of the war seeking mutual attrition and improving negotiating conditions, especially since almost a year after the outbreak of this war it is clear that neither Russia is capable of resolving the situation militarily, nor Ukraine and the West behind it are capable of defeating the Russians.