AS THE WAR IN UKRAINE APPROACHES ITS third year, NATO's former commander envisions three scenarios for the conflict started by Vladimir Putin-and two of them involve a Russian victory.
"If we don't do anything different than we're doing now, eventually, Ukraine will lose because Russia has more people and depth than Ukraine does," former Supreme Allied Commander Europe Philip Breedlove told Newsweek.
"If the West abandons Ukraine, it will fight valiantly but tens of thousands of more Ukrainians will die and eventually Russia will subjugate all of Ukraine, which will once again be a Russian vassal."
But one path offers hope for Ukraine, according to Breedlove, who as NATO commander between 2013 and 2016 witnessed the consequences of Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014 that preceded his full-scale invasion.
"If the West chooses to give Ukraine what they need to win, Ukraine will win this war," the four-star general said.
"This war is going to end exactly how Western policymakers want and desire it to end." That need for more Western weapons informed Volodymr Zelensky's latest exasperated plea that the fight against Putin is not just Kyiv's. "He's not going to stop until we all finish him off together," the Ukrainian president said last month.
The warning comes as U.S. lawmakers return to Washington after a wing of the Republican Party thwarted a security package that included $61.4 billion for Ukraine before Christmas.
During that congressional recess, Ukraine suffered a Russian bombardment over five days over the New Year in which more than 500 missiles and drones were fired throughout the country, destroying a maternity hospital, schools and apartments and killing 45 people.
Denne historien er fra February 16, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 16, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.