WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. leaders led by President Joe Biden are being careful not to declare victory prematurely after an invasion of Ukraine forcedRussian troops into a messy retreat north. Instead, military officials are looking ahead to the battles ahead and making plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons and ramp up training, while intensifying Russia's response to sudden, surprising losses on the battlefield. are waiting
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ough Ukraine's successes were widely celebrated over the weekend, U.S. officials know Russian President Vladimir Putin still has troops and resources, and his forces still control large swaths of the east and south. are
"I agree that the ball should not be moved because Russia still has cards it can play," said Philip Breedlove, who was NATO's top commander from 2013 to 2016. "Ukraine is clearly making sustainable changes now. Its east and north and I believe that if the West equips Ukraine properly, they will be able to maintain their gains.
Lawmakers specifically pointed to precision weapons and rocket systems that the U.S. and Western countries have provided to Ukraine, including the precision-guided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as key to the dramatic change in momentum. And high-speed anti. Radiation Missile, or HARM, designed to target and destroy radar-equipped air defense systems.
"They're there, they're in the theater, and they're making a difference," said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Coons said that in the hands of highly motivated Ukrainian fighters who are building more and more weapons, from off-the-shelf drones and abandoned Russian weapons to advanced weaponry from the West, HIMARS could "turn the tide dramatically" for the Ukrainians. enabling .
Meanwhile, a senior defense official said the U.S. is looking at future needs, including discussions about providing more rigorous combat training for large Ukrainian units, a shift from current training that focuses on specific weapons. Focuses on small teams learning to manage It is also considering deploying additional air defense systems, as well as lethal strike drones and more surveillance drones. The official was one of two who briefed reporters on Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the plan.
Ukraine's recent launch of a much-anticipated counteroffensive — in a different part of the country from where Russian troops occupying Ukraine have drawn massive force to counter it — has ended months of a 200-day war. It has brought about the biggest regional changes, when launched. Putin pushed Russian forces into the neighboring country, targeting its Western-oriented government.
U.S. officials acknowledged that the U.S. provided intelligence to help Ukraine retaliate, but declined to say whether Western officials had considered the idea of taking Russian forces off guard while focusing on plans for attacks in the south. How much it helped to make practical, while actually making more conspiracies. Great Campaign in the East.
One official said the U.S. provided information "on the situation" in the country, but "in the end, it was Ukraine's choice. The Ukrainian military and the Ukrainian political leadership decided how to carry out this response."
Ukrainian forces claimed on Monday that they had recaptured large swathes of territory and more than 20 Ukrainian settlements from Russia, returning the two countries to the northeastern border. Ukrainian military officials said Russian troops were surrendering in such numbers that Ukraine was having trouble accommodating them.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters late last week that the Ukrainians have hit 400 targets with HIMARS since the U.S. began supplying them, calling them " "used with devastating effect." .
The truck-mounted, GPS-guided systems fire faster, longer and more accurately than the Soviet-designed rocket launchers otherwise used by both Russia and Ukraine. They can hit targets up to 80 km (50 mi) away. Ukrainian forces have used 16 HIMARS and several similar systems to target supply lines, ammunition depots and other key Russian targets.
The Ukrainians believe that this is because of the new technological equipment and weapons that we have sent them. They said ... well, if you had sent them six months ago,'' said Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. "We didn't have them six months ago, but you know, we had to build the weapon, and train our people on it, it takes time."
Still, Ukrainian leaders are still pushing for more — including fighter jets and the Army Long-Range Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a surface-to-surface missile that the U.S. has refused to send it yet.
A key question going forward will be how much Congress and the American people are willing to spend on the war in Ukraine, which the US and the West say poses a significant threat to Europe.
It is unclear whether recent successes by Ukrainian fighters will influence the ongoing debate. The White House has asked Congress to greenlight $11.7 billion in additional aid as part of overall government funding that lawmakers must approve before the end of the month.
"I've seen no lack of appetite so far" to continue funding for Ukraine, said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. "I think seeing their ability to take the help they've been given and then being clearly successful in some of their endeavors is an incentive to want to do more of it."
The United States — the main contributor to Ukraine's war effort among NATO members — has provided more than $15 billion in arms and other military assistance to Ukraine since January.
Biden acknowledged battlefield gains for Ukraine over the weekend but declined to say more. "I'm not going to talk to him right now because things are ongoing," he told reporters.
Breedlove noted that despite recent war losses, Putin still has "a lot of tanks and a lot of trucks and a lot of people that he can still throw at this problem. They're just his best tanks, It doesn't have the best trucks or the best people.
But he warned that winter could bring the most difficult challenge. Putin's moves to cut off fuel supplies to Europe, which are expected to raise prices, are likely aimed at changing public opinion across the region.
"Although Mr. Putin's army has been defeated on the military front, his trump card, perhaps, is how well Europe is holding together in a winter that Mr. Putin will make utterly miserable for the European people. will." Breedlove said. "I think Mr Putin is desperately trying to stay in the winter because his main hope now is to alienate the European people from their European political leadership."
