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Russian President Vladimir Putin still intends to occupy most of Ukraine, US intelligence services have said.
However, Moscow’s military forces have been so weakened in the war that US officials believe they can only make slow progress.
This means that the war can last for a long time, said the head of the US National Intelligence Agency, Avril Haines.
In March, Moscow refocused troops on eastern Donbas after failing to gain control of the Ukrainian capital Kiev and other cities.
Putin still has the same intentions he had at the start of the conflict, Haines said – to control most of Ukraine.
However, she believes Russia has little chance of achieving that goal in the near future.
“We see a mismatch between Putin’s short-term goals in this area and his military capabilities, a kind of mismatch between his ambitions and what the military can achieve,” she told a US Commerce Department conference.
Ever since it failed to achieve its initial goal of occupying Kiev, Russia has focused on controlling the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
In this large industrial area, Putin claims, without providing evidence, that Ukraine has committed genocide against Russian-speakers.
Russian forces have made progress in the region, taking control of the town of Severodonjeck, but progress has been slow and Ukrainian forces are putting up fierce resistance.
Long war
In her first public comment since May on the war in Ukraine, Haines suggested that the war could last for a period of time and that “the picture should be rather bleak.”
She has said that intelligence agencies have three scenarios of how the war could unfold, and it could most likely be a conflict with slow progress.
The other scenario, which is less likely to materialize, is for Russia to make great progress, or for the war font to stabilize if Ukraine makes little progress.
This means that Moscow may become more dependent on “asymmetric means” to target enemies, including cyber-attacks and attempts to control energy sources or even nuclear weapons.
Haines made the remarks on Wednesday, as NATO leaders vowed to stay behind Ukraine as long as needed.
Leaders have agreed to increase their presence in Europe, and have invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance has made the biggest policy review since the Cold War.
US President Joe Biden has vowed that NATO will be “strengthened in all directions – on land, air and sea”.
Responding to the possibility of Sweden and Finland becoming members of NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the military alliance of deliberately escalating tensions.
“If NATO troops and infrastructure are positioned, Russia will be obliged to respond,” Putin said during a visit to Turkmenistan.
Meanwhile, the British government has pledged to allocate $ 1.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, nearly doubling the amount of aid.
Only the United States has sent more military aid to Ukraine than Britain.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his country needs about $ 5 billion a month to fund the war against Russia. Radio Free Europe
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