JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. Goal in Ukraine: Drive Russians Back to Pre-Invasion Lines, Blinken Says” – WSJ
“Kyiv must decide itself later whether to try to reclaim Crimea and Donbas”
“The U.S. priority is helping Kyiv drive Russian forces out of Ukrainian territory … seized since the full-scale invasion in February … leaving to Kyiv a future decision on whether to press the fight on to … Russian-occupied Crimea[] … and eastern Donbas …. Though Ukrainian forces have recaptured … Kherson and territory in western Donbas, without an effective navy or dominant air force they won’t be able to reoccupy Crimea without first pushing Russian forces back through the territory they took this year. … A separate issue … is whether Ukraine should attack Crimean or Russian targets with missiles in an effort to destroy Russian vehicles, planes and materiel, or to apply military pressure on Russian territory after Moscow’s widespread attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. …”