JRL NEWSWATCH: “A War Putin Still Can’t Win” – Foreign Affairs

“To Thwart Russia, America Needs a Long-Term Strategy — and Ukraine Needs Long-Range Weapons”

“… [T]he brutal war has often defied expectations. … [W]hen Russian forces poured over the … border, Ukraine … mounted an effective resistance and quickly ended the siege on Kyiv. … [A]fter the war moved south and east, Ukraine again caught observers off guard with its lightning campaign to push Russian forces out of Kharkiv Province in early September 2022. But … [r]ather than signaling a larger change in momentum, for example, the Kharkhiv offensive resulted in newly hardened frontlines that, other than Russia’s belated withdrawal from an untenable position in Kherson, moved little in the months that followed. … Ukraine’s long-awaited 2023 counteroffensive was unable to achieve a decisive breakthrough …. Now … according to much current commentary … Russia has the upper hand. Underlying the deep pessimism are reports of acute [Ukrainian] shortages of munitions and manpower …, doubts about continued U.S. support, and the perception that Russian forces, unconcerned about … losses, are prepared to take advantage. The problem is not with the quality of [wartime] predictions … but rather that … the war[‘s results] … will depend not only on … Ukraine … but also on how …. the West supports it. …”

Click here for: “A War Putin Still Can’t Win; To Thwart Russia, America Needs a Long-Term Strategy—and Ukraine Needs Long-Range Weapons” – Foreign Affairs: Lawrence D. Freedman