2024-01-27T13:42:51+00:00
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/ Today, Saturday, American officials revealed a plan undertaken by the Joseph Biden administration to “fortify” Ukraine in the future against a possible return of Donald Trump, as Washington is working on a plan to support short-term military operations, in addition to building a future Ukrainian military force that can “deter “Russian aggression, while Washington is also focusing on repelling the Ukrainians and the Russians’ attack instead of regaining territory.
According to American officials, the plan will also include specific promises and programs to help protect, rebuild and expand Ukraine’s industrial and export base, and assist the country in the political reforms necessary for full integration into Western institutions.
A US official said it was no coincidence that the long-term promise – assuming Congress approves again – would also provide “steady for the future” aid to Ukraine against the possibility of former President Donald Trump winning his re-election bid, according to the Washington Post.
While the White House continues to try to persuade lawmakers, another senior administration official stressed that this strategy does not mean that the Ukrainians will build their defensive trenches and “sit behind them” all year.
“There is still an exchange of battles” in small towns and villages of little strategic value, “missile and drone firing” by both sides, and “Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure,” this official said.
The West’s hope for 2024 seems to be that Ukraine will avoid losing any area larger than a fifth of the country that Russia now occupies.
Still reeling from last year’s failed counteroffensive in Ukraine, the Biden administration is developing a new strategy that will de-emphasize territorial retrieval and focus instead on helping Ukraine repel new Russian advances while moving toward the long-term goal of bolstering combat power. And economics.
The emerging plan represents a sharp change from last year, when US militaries and their allies rushed to send advanced training and equipment to Kiev in the hope that it could quickly repel Russian forces occupying eastern and southern Ukraine.
These efforts faltered due to the heavily fortified Russian minefields and front-line trenches.
A senior US administration official said: “It is clear that it will be difficult for them to try to apply the same kind of significant pressure on all fronts that they tried to do last year.”
The US official said the idea now is to put Ukraine in its position on the battlefield right now, but “to put it on a different path to be much stronger by the end of 2024 and put it on a more sustainable path.”
The US planning is part of a multilateral effort by nearly three dozen countries that support Ukraine to pledge long-term security and economic support, both out of necessity, given the disappointing results of last year’s war.