‘OPTIMISM’ FOR UKR.
US intel hopeful
The United States’ intel chief predicted better days ahead for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and questioned if President Vladimir Putin fully grasps the challenges his country faces in its invasion.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Putin “is becoming more informed of the challenges that the military faces” as she alluded to past allegations that his advisers were shielding him from bad war-front news.
“But it’s still not clear to us that he has a full picture, at this stage, of just how challenged they are,” Haines said during the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, Calif., on Saturday.
Haines added, “Honestly, we’re seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict” with the expectation both sides will need to refit and resupply before a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive geared up for the spring.
“But we actually have a fair amount of skepticism as to whether or not the Russians will be in fact prepared to do that,” she said. “And I think more optimistically for the Ukrainians in that time frame.”
Haines’ comments come as a top US diplomat said Putin isn’t truly interested in peace talks and is taking the war to a new level of “barbarism” by cutting power to Ukrainian civilians.
Undersecretary for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland lambasted the Kremlin on Saturday for targeting civilian infrastructure when she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials in Kyiv.
“Diplomacy is obviously everyone’s objective, but you have to have a willing partner,” she told reporters. “And it’s very clear, whether it’s the energy attacks, whether it’s the rhetoric out of the Kremlin and the general attitude, that Putin is not sincere or ready for that.”
“Putin has taken this war to a new level of barbarism, taking it into every single Ukrainian home as he tries to turn off the lights and the water and achieve what he couldn’t on the battlefield,” Nuland said.
The British Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence estimate that public support in Russia for the war might be drastically falling, pointing to a recent survey obtained by an independent Russian media outlet.
The outlet, Meduza, said it obtained a recent survey done by the Federal Protection Service, which provides security to Kremlin and other top government officials, that showed 55% of respondents supported peace talks with Ukraine. Only some 25% still wanted to see the war continue.
Last month, Russia’s top independent pollster, Levada Center, found that 53% of about 1,600 respondents sought peace and 41% chose for the war to drag on.
“Despite the Russian authorities’ efforts to enforce pervasive control of the information environment, the conflict has become increasingly tangible for many Russians since the September ‘partial mobilization,’ ” the British ministry said.
“With Russia unlikely to achieve major battlefield successes in the next several months, maintaining even tacit approval of the war amongst the population is likely to be increasingly difficult for the Kremlin,” it also noted.
Zelensky during his Saturday nightly address denounced Western nations for setting a $60-perbarrel price cap on imports of Russian oil considering that is how Moscow is in large part funding its war.
The price cap of $60 would still allow Russia to rake in $100 billion in revenue yearly, he said.
“This money will go not only to the war and not only to further sponsorship by Russia of other terrorist regimes and organizations. This money will be used for further destabilization of those countries that are now trying to avoid serious decisions,” Zelensky said.
A slew of countries, including the US, agreed to the price cap Friday, but the benchmark was rejected by Russia, which threatened to cut off nations that supported the plan.