Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a “sentimentalist” when it comes to the massive casualties his forces are facing in Ukraine and believes he can wear down Ukraine and the West and eventually win the war, CIA Director Bill Burns said Sunday.
Burns, speaking on CBS “Face the Nation” He said the US must provide full material and intelligence support in the coming months to “pierce Putin’s arrogance” and regain momentum on the battlefield. He said that Putin is convinced that he “can’t lose”, so he will try to drag out the war.
“Putin’s view of Americans, of us, is that we have attention deficit disorder and we will eventually move on to some other issue,” Burns said. “So instead of looking for ways to backtrack or find a famous off ramp, you know what Putin did.”
Friday marked a grim milestone: It’s been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. During this time, the U.S. pledged about $113 billion in aid to Kyiv, more than half of it in the form of military aid, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Amid internal struggles from spiraling living costs to rising refugee arrivals, polls show Americans are less interested in supplying arms to Ukraine.
Recent developments:
►Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted on the anniversary of Russia’s occupation of Crimea: “9 years ago, the Russian occupation of Crimea began. By taking back Crimea, we will restore peace. This is our land. Our people. Our history. We will. Ukrainian in every corner of Ukraine.” Return the flag.”
►National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan was present NBC’s “Meet the Press” And in other Sunday news programs, the U.S. is providing Ukraine with parts for Soviet-era jets, but said the delivery of F-16s is actually “a question for another day, another phase” of the war.
A GOP representative from Texas who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Michael McCaul wants Sullivan and the Biden administration to answer this question now and provide Ukraine with long-range missiles. “When we give them something they can actually use and listen to, they succeed,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
►NATO could deliver 62 of the German-made Panther 2 tanks to Ukraine, “After that we’ll see how the course of the war changes,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the Deutschlandfunk radio network on Sunday. Ukraine has requested 300 tanks.
Putin accused the West of trying to destroy Russia
The West wants to eliminate Russia and ethnic Russians will not be able to live as a separate people if the West wins, Putin said in an interview on state-owned television on Sunday. Putin accused the United States and its allies of “one goal: the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and its constituent entity, the Russian Federation.”
His pitch that the West is conspiring against Russia has been a recurring theme in Putin’s efforts to play down anti-war discontent.
“There will be Muscovites, Uralians and others,” he said of Russia’s splintering into regional groups. Russia, the so-called “family of civilized peoples,” could only be partially accepted by the West, breaking the country into separate fragments, he theorized.
Putin also said last week that Russia had suspended participation in the New START nuclear treaty with other NATO countries, not just America’s nuclear capabilities. He said Russia could not accept US inspections of its nuclear sites while Washington and NATO allies looked forward to Russia’s defeat in Ukraine. But he reiterated that Moscow was not withdrawing from the deal, and his foreign ministry said Moscow would respect treaty limits on nuclear weapons and continue to notify the United States of test launches of ballistic missiles.
Russia’s drones lose effectiveness, but are useful as decoys
The lack of reports of drone strikes in Ukraine since mid-February suggests the Russians have run out of Iranian-made weapons, although they will order more, the British Ministry of Defense said in an update.
The drones were initially effective at damaging civilian infrastructure, but Ukrainians have become more adept at shooting them down, including at least 24 between late January and early February, the ministry said.
“Although the weapons do not have a good track record of destroying their intended targets,” the ministry said, “Russia may see them as useful decoys that could distract Ukrainian air defenses from more effective Russian cruise missiles.
The representatives of the two countries discussed “opportunities to improve bilateral cooperation between the two friendly countries” and ways to support each other in various fields, the Saudi ministry said.
“Thanks to Prince @FaisalbinFarhan for constructive dialogue and mutual understanding,” Yermak said in tweets that included photos of Yermak and the prince.
Ukraine says it has foiled a recent Russian push near the hotly contested Pakmut.
Russian forces have attacked nearly two dozen communities near Bakhmut, a town in Donetsk province that has been at the center of fighting in recent weeks, Ukraine’s military said on Sunday.
The region is split between Ukrainian and Russian control, while Russia has captured most of Luhansk province. Together they make up the eastern Donbass region, which has been the focus of Putin’s war.
Weeks of intense fighting with heavy casualties did not move the front lines. Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group, said his fighters had advanced to a settlement on the northern edge of Baghmut, but the Ukrainian military denied the claim, saying Russian forces had been repulsed.
“The enemy continues to attack positions of Ukrainian troops,” the Ukrainian military said. Facebook. “Enemies’ attacks failed.”
Saudi Arabia provides $400 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide $400 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Ukrainian and Saudi officials said Sunday.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to Kiev, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Presidential Palace. The prince also met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Russia claims to have destroyed thousands of Ukrainian tanks
Ministry of Defense of Russia He said he destroyed it on Sunday It began a year ago with 390 Ukrainian aircraft, 211 helicopters, 3,243 drones, 405 air-to-air missile systems, 8,042 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, and 1,045 combat vehicles with multiple missile rocket systems. The ministry said 4,222 artillery guns and mortars and 8,556 special military vehicles have been destroyed since the invasion began.
The ministry did not report the number of Ukrainian soldiers or civilians it killed or its own losses.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard USA TODAY; Associated Press
