JRL NEWSWATCH: “Austin’s assertion that U.S. wants to ‘weaken’ Russia underlines Biden strategy shift” – CNN
“As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has transformed into a grinding war of attrition with no meaningful peace deal in sight, the U.S. and its allies have begun to convey a new, longer-term goal … to defeat Russia so decisively on the battlefield that it will be deterred from launching such an attack ever again. … [O]n Monday … Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters after a trip to … Kyiv … ‘we want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.’ A National Security Council spokesperson said … Austin’s comments were consistent with what … U.S.[] goals have been for months … ‘to make this invasion a strategic failure for Russia.’ …”