Officials across Europe are worried that the consensus on Ukraine could crumble as the continent enters a harsh winter of rising food prices, energy shortages to heat homes and the real possibility of a recession.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has captured the imagination of the West and forced countries to back the war effort, may find it harder to get the attention of European leaders as the conflict drags on.

The winter fuel crisis is something that European officials and diplomats think about daily.

European countries are also hungry for Russian oil, with nearly half of Russian oil exports going to the continent. In 2021, the EU reportedly imported 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Officials also fear that the Western strategy of arming the Ukrainians is becoming a short-term solution to a long-term problem: a war without a clear end.

French weapons are currently on the battlefield in Ukraine, while Germany has broken decades of pacifist policies by increasing its own defense spending and sending weapons.

In addition to the economic and military costs affecting Western largesse, there is also serious concern that the world is beginning to experience war weariness.

Some Western European countries, primarily Germany and France, have publicly stated that there should be a dialogue between the West and Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly said he believes talks between Russia and Ukraine will need to be held at some point, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been criticized for controversial statements about Russian gas and most recently about whether whether Europe to ban tourist visas for Russians.

The next few months will be the most difficult for European countries since the beginning of the war. Citizens will feel the rise in the cost of living across the continent. Some will have to make a choice between heating and food. Against this background, it is difficult for political leaders to justify spending money and energy to support a distant country, especially when some of their citizens believe that they are already generous enough.

Many Western officials have told CNN they are concerned that at some point political leaders may decide it is best to broker a peace deal and undermine Ukraine's preferred end game, which involves Russian troops returning to their old borders.