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The CIA chief says Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have succumbed to his myth-making and hyperbole, unable to let go of his desire to invade Ukraine, no matter the cost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
CIA Director William Burns, the last US official to meet with President Putin before he ordered Russian forces into Ukraine in February, warned late Wednesday that the Russian leader truly believes he must invade Ukraine to fulfill his destiny.<\/p>\n
“Putin really believes his rhetoric, and I’ve heard him say privately over the years, that Ukraine is not a real country. \u2026 He really thought he could take Kiev in less than a week,\u201d Mr. Burns told an audience at the annual Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.<\/p>\n
“He is convinced that as the leader of Russia he is supposed to restore Russia as a great power … and he does not believe that he can do that without controlling Ukraine …,” Mr. Burns added. “He believes it is his right, it is Russia’s right to dominate Ukraine.”<\/p>\n
Earlier assessments by US intelligence services have warned that while Mr Putin had no intention of abandoning his efforts to occupy all of Ukraine, it was possible that he was willing to formally halt the fighting to give his forces time to him to reorganize, after significant losses since the beginning of the aggression.<\/p>\n
“It’s entirely plausible, from our perspective, that depending on how things play out over the next few months and so on, he (Putin) will be convinced that there’s value in actually reaching some sort of deal, \u201d National Intelligence Service Director Avril Haines said last month.<\/p>\n
According to US intelligence estimates, around 15,000 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine, while another 45,000 have been wounded.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian defense officials put the number of Russian soldiers killed at around 38,000.<\/p>\n
Mr Burns appeared to cast doubt on the idea that some sort of deal could be in play, describing it as incompatible with the worldviews of the Russian president.<\/p>\n
Mr Putin is “a big believer in control, intimidation and reckoning”, Mr Burns said, calling the Russian leader “an apostle of payback”.<\/p>\n
“As he has tightened his grip on power, as his circle of advisers has narrowed, his personal sense of destiny and his appetite for risk has grown,” Mr Burns said. “Mr. Putin’s bet … is that he can succeed in a devastating war, that he can wear out the Ukrainian military, that winter is coming and so he can choke the Ukrainian economy, he can wear out the public and the European leadership, and he can wear out the States the United States”.<\/p>\n
“My strong view is that Putin was wrong in his assumptions about breaking the (NATO) alliance and breaking Ukraine’s will before the war started and I think he is just as wrong now,” Mr Burns said. .<\/p>\n
There are some signs that Russia has learned from early failures in Ukraine, limiting its targets to the Donbass region and increasing the use of long-range artillery, an area in which Moscow has an advantage over Kiev.<\/p>\n
At the same time, however, there are signs that Mr. Putin’s ambitions are reviving.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned on Wednesday that Russian forces may soon expand their “special operation” due to the supply of US HIMARS artillery systems to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
“Now the geography has changed. It’s not only Donetsk and Luhansk, it’s Kherson, Zaporizhia and some other territories,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We cannot allow the part of Ukraine that will be controlled by (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky, or whoever replaces him, to carry weapons that will pose a direct threat to our territory and the territory of the republics that have declared independence , who want to determine their future”.<\/p>\n
Two hundred Ukrainian troops have been trained to use HIMARS artillery, and at least eight units have been put into action so far, according to US military officials, targeting and destroying Russian weapons depots and command and control centers.<\/p>\n
US defense officials said four more HIMARS units are being sent to the Ukrainian military and promised to deliver four more systems in a security package to be announced later this week.<\/p>\n
“We’re not just working to provide security assistance in the short term,” General Mark Milley, chief of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Wednesday. “We are also looking at opportunities to provide Ukraine with the tools it will need for deterrence and protection in the longer term.”<\/p>\n
Other Ukrainian allies also warn of a continuation of the war.<\/p>\n
“We see no sign that the war will end soon,” NATO Assistant Secretary General David Cattler said in an online forum on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“In fact, there are even more signs that this war will be very long,” he said.<\/p>\n
Russia and Iran<\/strong><\/p>\n US defense and intelligence officials are warning Iran not to get involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n A day after President Putin met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at the Pentagon that it would be a “really, really bad idea” for Iran to provide Russia with drones. armed. “…We would advise Iran not to do that,” Secretary Austin said.<\/p>\n Asked about Secretary Austin’s comments, Mr. Burns said that “the reality is that the Russians and the Iranians need each other right now, both heavily sanctioned countries, both seeking to break out of political isolation.” But, he added, “I think as troubling as some of the steps between these two parties are, and we at the CIA focus a lot on them, I think there are limits to the ways they’re going to be able to help each other now.”<\/p>\n Lessons for China<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Burns said Moscow was getting some help from China, with Beijing increasing purchases of energy products to help support the Russian economy. But he warned that the Chinese have been very wary of offering Russia any military support.<\/p>\n “It seems to me that President Xi (Jinping) and the Chinese leadership have been concerned to some extent, especially in the first phase of Putin’s war in Ukraine … concerned by the military achievements of the Russians at the beginning and the success of the Russian weaponry, of worried by the economic insecurities caused by the war”, he said.<\/p>\n However, Mr Burns said Russia’s efforts were unlikely to change China’s calculation of using force to take Taiwan.<\/p>\n “Our feeling is that perhaps this affects less the question of whether the Chinese leadership may choose years down the road to use force to control Taiwan, but how and when they will do it,” he said.<\/p>\n “If there’s one lesson I think they can learn from Putin’s experience in Ukraine, it’s that you don’t achieve quick decisive victories with small forces,” Mr. Burns said.<\/p>\n Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum earlier Wednesday, China’s ambassador to the United States dismissed the possibility that Beijing would use force against Taiwan.<\/p>\n “The last thing we want to do is fight with our countrymen (in Taiwan),” said Ambassador Qin Gang, accusing the US of sending sophisticated weapons to support the Taiwanese military.<\/p>\n “We will do our best in our great sincerity to achieve peaceful reunification,” Ambassador Qin added. “The ‘One China’ principle is the political foundation of China-US relations and is the foundation for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait… but we call on the United States to honor its commitments with actions.”\/VOA<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n top channel
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