The United States does not expect Russia to make significant territorial gains in Ukraine in the near term, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, describing the year-long war as an “uphill battle”, Reuters reported.
Despite the fact that it failed to capture Kyiv at the beginning of the war and despite numerous setbacks on the battlefields, Russia still controls about a fifth of the territory of Ukraine.
Until now, Kyiv has excluded negotiations with Moscow and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops to the borders of Ukraine, starting from 1991, the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Russian forces on Tuesday continued their week-long campaign to surround and capture the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, where the commander of Ukrainian ground forces described the situation as “extremely tense.”
“You may see small areas of territory change flags in the coming weeks and months. I don’t think I see anything that indicates that the Russians can sweep into Ukraine and make significant territorial gains anytime in the next year or so,” said Colin Kahl, the US deputy secretary of defense for policy, on hearings in the House of Representatives.
Kahl made the remarks during hearings on the oversight of billions of dollars in military aid that Washington has provided to Kyiv.
President Joe Biden’s administration has provided Ukraine with nearly $32 billion in military aid since Russia invaded a year ago, including drones, long-range artillery systems and air defense equipment.
In October, the U.S. resumed field inspections in Ukraine to help track billions of dollars worth of weapons shipped to Kyiv.
One of the weapons that the US has not provided – despite public calls from Ukrainian officials – is the F-16 fighter jets.
Kalya’s deputies repeatedly asked about sending planes to Ukraine.
For now, Biden has ruled out fighter jets, and Kahl said it could take 18 to 24 months for existing F-16s to be delivered, and several months for new ones.
He added that Ukraine wants to get planes, but they are not a priority in the current war.
“This is a priority for Ukrainians, but it is not one of their top three priorities,” Kalya was quoted as saying by Reuters.
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Source: Hot News
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