- CIA Director William Burns said Ukraine could lose by the end of the year.
- Invaded nation desperately needs new aid packages to fight Russia
- But a $60 billion package is held up in the US House of Representatives.
Ukraine could lose its bloody war against Russia at the end of the year if it does not receive the support it needs, the CIA director has warned.
William Burns admitted yesterday that without adequate support from the West, Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin may be “in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political agreement.”
The CIA chief told attendees at the Bush Center’s Leadership Forum in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday that while Ukrainian forces “can hold their own on the battlefield,” they are “in a difficult moment right now in the battlefield”.
Progress on the front lines of the bloodiest conflict on European soil in decades is slow and Russia has increased its pressure on Ukrainian forces.
After capturing the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka in February, Russia is now advancing towards the mountain town of Chasiv Yar.
If his forces take Chasiv Yar, they will be able to advance towards Slaviansk and Kramatorsk, two key cities in the Donetsk region that are still under Ukrainian control.
An aerial view shows destroyed houses following an attack in the town of Pryvillya in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on June 14, 2022.
Ukrainian soldier walks through a trench on the front line with Russian-backed separatists, not far from the town of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, on December 10, 2021.
William J. Burns (pictured) heads the Central Intelligence Agency
Ukrainian troops are struggling as supplies and ammunition dwindle. A massive $60 billion military aid package is currently stalled in the GOP-controlled US House of Representatives after passing through the Senate.
Burns said U.S. assistance would mean Ukraine could turn the tide of the battle and could “continue to cause damage with deeper strikes into Crimea… and against the Black Sea Fleet.”
He added: “With the boost that would come from military assistance, both practically and psychologically… Ukrainians are entirely capable of holding their ground until 2024 and ending Putin’s arrogant view that time is on their side.”
In addition to military aid, Ukraine needs an additional £34 billion of support this year alone, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Russia’s war against Ukraine needed to end, calling it a human tragedy and an obstacle to the global economy’s growth prospects.
Support for Ukraine from most of the Western world remains strong. Yesterday it was revealed that G7 members were considering using the $300 billion in Russian assets frozen due to sanctions as collateral to provide loans to Ukraine.
Russian strikes on Ukraine in the early hours of Friday killed at least nine people, including three children, and kyiv said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber for the first time.
Moscow said a military plane crashed over the south of the country while returning to its base from a combat mission after suffering a technical failure.
The downing of a Russian bomber used to fire cruise missiles at Ukraine would be a highly symbolic victory for kyiv, which has been hit by hundreds of overnight Russian airstrikes since Moscow invaded more than two years ago.
The latest overnight Russian strikes in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region killed at least nine people and wounded more than a dozen, Ukrainian officials said Friday.
‘A child who was seriously injured during a massive enemy attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region today died in hospital. The death toll has risen to nine, including three children,” the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office said in a statement on Telegram.