US intelligence expects the current pace of fighting in Ukraine, which has slowed sharply, to continue in the coming months and sees no sign of weakening Ukrainian resolve to resist, the director of US National said on Saturday December 3rd, 2022 Intelligence.
“We are already seeing some slowdown in the conflict and expect this to continue in the coming months”April Haines stated during the Reagan National Defense annual forum.
In her opinion, both the Ukrainians and the Russians should try to prepare for a new counter-offensive after the winter by renewing and stocking up their equipment.
“We are quite skeptical about how ready the Russians will be. I’m more optimistic for the Ukrainians. »
April Haines said Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure were aimed in part at undermining Ukrainian resolve to resist, adding: “We see no evidence that (their resolve) is currently being undermined.”.
The director of national intelligence says Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political goals in Ukraine don’t appear to have changed, but US intelligence officials believe he may be ready to scale back his military goals in the short term “temporarily, with the thought that he might revisit that decision later”.
Peace talks under Russian conditions
The Kremlin said on Saturday, December 3, 2022 that peace talks with the West could only enter an effective phase if Moscow’s authority over the Ukrainian territories it has annexed since the conflict began is recognized, even if Russian forces were driven out of these regions by the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the refusal to recognize the US government “New Territories” as part of Russia “Makes it much more difficult to find a common ground for discussion”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions in September, although Russian forces did not fully control those areas at the time. And the Russian army continued to lose ground in those areas it now claims.
Russian forces withdrew from Kherson, the first major city captured by Russia, after launching the invasion in late February last month. Kherson is the capital of a region in southern Ukraine known as Kherson Oblast, one of four territories illegally annexed by Putin. Ukraine regained control of more than half of Russian-held territory after the invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made it clear that he will not accept a peace deal in which Kyiv cedes territories to Russia. Zelenskyy called the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity a condition for starting talks with Russia.
The Essential United States
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Saturday December 3, 2022 that the war in Ukraine shows that Europe is too dependent on the United States for its security.
“I have to be ruthlessly honest with you, Europe is not strong enough at the moment.” Marin said during a speech to a think tank in Sydney. “Without the United States, we would be in trouble. »
And to add: “The United States has given Ukraine a lot of arms, a lot of financial aid, a lot of humanitarian aid, and Europe isn’t strong enough yet. We must ensure that we build these capabilities in European defence. »
The United States has provided far more security aid to Ukraine than any other country — about $19.1 billion since Russia began its invasion in late February.
Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine marks the first major conflict in Europe since World War II and has sparked more urgent discussions about European security and the continent’s dependence on the United States. It also prompted Finland and Sweden – two historically neutral or militarily non-aligned countries – to join NATO (the process of joining is still ongoing).
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