The U.S. State Department believes that the situation at the front may undergo changes. They assert that Russia has suffered defeat, as Vladimir Putin has not achieved his original goal. This was stated by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller at a briefing.
"Russia has failed. We do not assess that they intend to capture Kyiv. He has not achieved and will not be able to achieve his ultimate goal, which is to conquer all of Ukraine. We see Ukraine capable of standing firmly on its feet, building its economy, building its army," said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
He also added that the current situation on the battlefield will be very difficult without additional support from the U.S.
"We believe we need to continue to support them, and we think Congress will ultimately do that. But ultimately we believe that Putin has not achieved - not only has not achieved, but will not achieve his ultimate goals," said the State Department spokesperson.
Furthermore, the U.S. State Department claims that the current situation in Ukraine is not developing in favor of Russia. Miller emphasized that people often forget Putin's real goal – the complete takeover of Ukraine.
"Ukraine was not only able to prevent this. Now everyone takes it for granted, but it didn’t look like a foregone conclusion at the beginning of the war. They managed to regain about half of the territory that Russia captured in the first weeks of the war. And even over the past few weeks, they (Ukrainians) continue to make progress on the battlefield," added the State Department representative.
It should be recalled that on December 18, it was reported that the U.S. had made progress in negotiations to unblock aid to Ukraine. The U.S. Congress reported positive changes in dialogue on border security issues.
On December 22, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024. The document provides a record $886 billion for military needs and also extends the action of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative within $300 million.
