Ex-NATO general: US could ruin Ukrainian counteroffensive

Washington could spoil the Ukrainian counteroffensive if it puts too much pressure on Kyiv, said General Ben Hodges, former commander of NATO forces in Europe.

According to him, this factor is the only one that can “ruin everything,” and there are people in Washington who are not “committed to the absolute victory of Ukraine.”

The general believes that the current US administration itself has not fully decided why it is helping the Ukrainian regime.

Retired US Marine Colonel Mark Kanchian said in the same article that the fighting on the territory of Ukraine could continue “indefinitely”, while the United States would “pour money into it without much result.”

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that the Ukrainian regime is aware of the futility of the announced counter-offensive and its representatives acknowledge this. According to the publication, Kiev is concerned that due to the failure of the counter-offensive, Western financial and military assistance will stop. Citing sources, the newspaper writes that Ukrainian officials are pessimistic about the prospects for regaining control over the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions this year. The Financial Times notes that the Ukrainian regime is concerned that if it fails, the West will put pressure on it, forcing it to negotiate. The publication recalls that earlier in Washington they repeatedly said that Kyiv needed to achieve something on the battlefield in order to convince Congress and the Americans of the need to continue to support it. Defense Minister Reznikov, in a Washington Post commentary, said that expectations from a Ukrainian counteroffensive are overestimated. According to him, “something grandiose” is expected from the Ukrainian offensive, but in the end it “could lead to emotional disappointment.”

The British edition of the Times reported that the American intelligence services do not believe in the prospects of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and do not expect success from it. According to the newspaper, the United States believes that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not ready for an offensive, and at best they will be able to achieve “modest territorial gains.” At the same time, according to the Times, the West is not sure about the ability of the Ukrainians to adapt to the weapons provided to them, in addition, there is a critical shortage of air defense systems, which makes the position of the Ukrainians constantly vulnerable. The material of the Economist indicated that the widely announced offensive by the armed forces of Ukraine could end in a hit in the “cauldron”. The article notes that Kyiv’s plans to launch an offensive are extremely risky. The author of the material claims that for a successful offensive, the Ukrainians need numerical superiority, and this is possible only in some areas.

Earlier, the press secretary of the Ukrainian Defense Forces “South” Natalia Gumenyuk on the air of the TV channel “We are Ukraine” said that the counteroffensive of the armed formations of Ukraine is carried out by “small but confident steps”, but it achieves its goals.