Pentagon chief: Russia has advantages, but does not dominate in war against Ukraine

The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who will soon resign, says that the Russian military does not have all the advantages in the war against Ukraine.

Bloomberg writes about this.

"There is a perception that Russia has the upper hand here [in the war], and it has every chance. It has some advantages, but it is not completely dominant. And if it gets what it wants, it will pay for it in the future," the Pentagon chief said.

Austin says this needs to be taken into account in any ceasefire in Ukraine. He says Russian forces are having problems — they’ve asked North Korea and Iran for weapons and ammunition, and now they’ve drawn North Korean troops into the fighting. Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to build up its capabilities.

He added that occupying large areas of Ukraine would require significant resources even after a ceasefire. Russia would need a lot of ground forces to hold the territories.

Austin also responded to criticism from some European and Ukrainian officials that the administration of US President Joe Biden did not have a clear strategy to support Ukraine.

"It [the US strategy] helped Ukraine survive, helped Ukraine defend its sovereign territory. The loss of 700 000 soldiers killed and wounded would have been unthinkable [for Russia] three years ago," Austin said.

Austin also sees the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria as another example of the strategic success of helping Ukraine. Because Russian leader Vladimir Putin was focused on the war in Ukraine, he failed to help his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. If the new Syrian administration does not allow Russia to keep its naval base in Tartus, then Russia will likely not be able to maintain its influence in Africa.

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