A top United States intelligence official said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to take over most of Ukraine and noted that the outlook of the war is looking "grim."
In a statement, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, said that the American government continues to be in a position overlooking Putin. U.S. officials believe that the Russian president has effectively the same political goals that they previously had, which is to take over most of Ukraine.
Grim Outlook
Haines added that U.S. intelligence agencies see three potential scenarios in the short term, the most likely outcome being a grinding conflict in which Russian forces only make incremental gains, but no breakthrough towards Putin's grand objective.
The other possible scenarios include a major Russian breakthrough and Ukraine succeeding in stabilizing the frontlines while achieving small gains, perhaps near the Russian-held city of Kherson and other areas in southern Ukraine, as per MSN.
Furthermore, Haines outlined the current U.S. intelligence assessment of the more than four-month-long war, saying that the consensus of U.S. spy agencies was that it would last "for an extended period of time."
The remarks come as this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told United States President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders that he wished the war would be over by the end of the year. However, Haines' comments suggest that the billions of dollars in modern arms being supplied by the U.S. and other countries to Ukraine may not give Zelensky the ability to turn the tide against Russia anytime soon.
According to Reuters, Haines said that Putin remains motivated to take most of Ukraine despite facing powerful defensive counterattacks from Kyiv's forces. However, Russian forces have been so degraded by more than four months of fighting that it is unlikely they can achieve their leader's plan any time soon.
Russia-Ukraine War
The official argued that during the potential years it would take for Russia to rebuild its forces, American intelligence anticipated that they would be more reliant on asymmetric tools that they have access to, such as cyber-attacks, efforts to control energy, and even nuclear weapons. All of this is in an attempt to manage and project power and influence on the international stage.
Haines continued to say that in the interim, Russian troops were unlikely to be able to conduct multiple simultaneous operations in Ukraine. She said that Putin's priority right now is making gains in the Donbas region and collapsing Ukrainian forces, a development that Russia assesses will "cause the resistance from within to slump."
The official's remarks also came after a summit of NATO leaders was held on Wednesday that branded Russia as the most "direct threat" to alliance security and vowed to modernize Kyiv's forces. The Western alliance's member leaders said that they stood behind their "heroic defense of their country."
Russia's war in Ukraine was launched on Feb. 24 as authorities called it a "special military operation" to eliminate what it deemed a fascist government that threatened its security. However, Ukraine, the United States, and several other nations say that Russia is conducting an unjustified war of aggression against its neighboring European country, US News reported.
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