Russia can no longer achieve victory in its attempted conquest of Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. legislator.
The Russian military’s early fumbles, continued mass casualties, and the nation’s larger economic woes will ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin will fail to permanently occupy Ukraine and oust its government, says Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho).
“He’s lost this war. Ukraine has not won this war, but Russia has lost it,” Risch said during a March 29 discussion with the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.
“He will never, ever [permanently] occupy Ukraine.”
Risch, who serves as ranking member for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that Putin had initially believed his attack on Ukraine would fracture the 30-member NATO and ultimately lead to its demise.
To the contrary, however, the invasion strengthened the alliance’s mutual support and brought in two new potential members: Finland and Sweden.
“He certainly thought that this [invasion] would divide NATO,” Risch said.
US ‘Commitment’ to Ukraine
Though Russia could no longer realize its vision for victory in Ukraine, Risch said, the fighting was far from over.To that end, Risch said the United States held a moral and legal obligation to defend Ukraine, based on the assurances the United States provided in 1994 when it helped Ukraine relinquish its nuclear arsenal.
“We made a commitment at that time,” Risch said.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) had a similar message, saying that the United States needed to keep its promise to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression.
“We gave a promise and the world watches to see if America keeps its promises,” Wicker said.
Still, Risch said the path to the end of war was likely to be a long one, and the national enmity between Ukraine and Russia was likely to become a contentious issue for “generations” to come.
“There’s going to be fallout from this for a long, long time to come,” Risch said.
As such, Risch said the Biden administration would need to do better to arm and equip Ukraine more swiftly. The administration, he said, had done well in supporting Ukraine, but dragged its feet too often when it came to providing systems that could really turn the tide of the conflict.
“They’ve done the right thing. The problem is how long it took to get them there… It’s been a year,” Risch said of the Biden administration.
“They really haven’t pushed back that hard.”
