President to meet Joe Biden and senators, with Congress holding back support, but UK hints it will increase funding
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has flown to Washington DC in an attempt to rescue a critical $61bn military aid package, while the UK separately hinted that it could increase the value of the arms, ammunition and training that it donates to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy is due to meet the US president, Joe Biden, on Tuesday, as well as US senators and the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, at a time when Congress is holding up future American financial support for Kyiv’s war effort.
Shortly after arriving in the US capital, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was counting on the US, and that delays to future rounds of military aid were “dreams come true” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
“Putin must lose,” Zelenskiy said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington DC. “You can count on Ukraine, and we hope just as much to be able to count on you.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has flown to Washington DC in an attempt to rescue a critical $61bn military aid package, while the UK separately hinted that it could increase the value of the arms, ammunition and training that it donates to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy is due to meet the US president, Joe Biden, on Tuesday, as well as US senators and the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, at a time when Congress is holding up future American financial support for Kyiv’s war effort.
Shortly after arriving in the US capital, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was counting on the US, and that delays to future rounds of military aid were “dreams come true” for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
No final decision had been taken, the source added, although a meeting of the UK’s national security council this week is expected to discuss the issue of future support for Kyiv against the backdrop of American uncertainty.
Ukraine failed in an attempt to break through Russia’s lines during 2023 and the increasing expectation is that the two countries could be embroiled in a protracted conflict, each reliant on the support of allies and their respective industrial bases to produce more ammunition and weaponry.
“What we’ve said is that if there is to be additional assistance to Ukraine – which most members of Congress believe is important – we have to also work on changing our own border policy,” he told the Hill at the end of November.
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Ukranians will have to be killing Russians at over a 3 to 1 ratio in order to succeed. This is before we start counting conscriptions, which Russia has a much larger population to pull from.
Ukranians will have to be killing Russians at over a 3 to 1 ratio in order to succeed.
where is the problem? Russia is already throwing them to the meatgrinder with no regards for their own people. Only issue I see is that Ukraine's ammo could run out.
And do you really think that Russia could start another drafting without destabilizing its society even further? Not to mention that numbers doesen't really mean that much if morality is low and they are barely equipped or trained.
This is how the USSR defeated the Nazis at Leningrad Stalingrad. The Nazis had superior firepower but they literally ran out of bullets because there were so many Russians.
They have. Ukrainians have been fucking the Russians because they're better equipped, better trained, and have greater morale than the Russian "I'm just here to die" meat grinder.
That said, is it enough? I really don't think it is. I think the Russian meat grinder is that strong.
If NATO were to send their own troops (not volunteers) on the ground, then it would be a completely different ballgame.
Unfortunately, Ukraine's recent "counteroffensive" is showing us that equipment and logistics are simply not enough to win a war.
You need men. Which Russia has in spades. (literally)
Ukraine doesn't have to kill every single military conscript. First of all, many of those 1mil. russian troops are working logistics. Second, an army isn't beat when all of its men are dead, but when morale breaks. So what needs to happen is that Ukraine gets enough material to crush russian assaults for long enough to convince the russian cannon fodder to not attack anymore. And the military support needs to be sustained to indicate to Putin that he can't out-wait the support, but will have to strike a deal before his army gets overpowered.
If Russian people were to say "fuck this", then the war is over.
The problem is that Russian propaganda is so strong among its people that I don't really see that as a possibility until the bitter end. I think Ukraine will reach their bitter end before Russia does without foreign troops on the ground.
Not just volunteers. But coordinated, military aid.
Putins popularity numbers crashed like 20% when he announced mobilisation before it was clear that Moscow wouldn't have very many people mobilized from it. Putin can't use Russia's manpower without becoming extremely unpopular. And if he becomes unpopular, especially among the rich in Moscow, coups are much more likely.
Plus, Ukraine is commonly seeing loss ratios of 3:1 or more.
Putins popularity numbers crashed like 20% when he announced mobilisation
Which does not really count, because there are no real elections in Russia
And if he becomes unpopular, especially among the rich in Moscow, coups are much more likely.
That is something I really hope. Just some pissed oligarch with some true love for mother russia putting a bullet into Putins head and finally end him. But this is tied to a major mobilization, some balls and we don't know if Putin's successor will be better or worse.