AFP: Russiaʼs leadership has conflicting views on the winter offensive against Ukraine

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

The Russian leadership has conflicting views on the advisability of a winter offensive against Ukraine.

This was reported to the AFP agency by a high-ranking US official.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly called on the military leadership of the Russian Federation to present to him "short-term and medium-term" plans for the continuation of the war in Ukraine.

"I think there are conflicting things that we see. Certainly, there are some who, I think, would want to pursue offensives in Ukraine. There are others who have real questions about the capacity for Russia to actually do that," the US official said on condition of anonymity.

He said the United States would "adjust and adapt quickly" if the nature of the Russian invasion changed.

"What weʼve been doing -- what we continue to do -- is to make sure, to the best of our ability, the Ukrainians have, within their hands, the means to effectively defend themselves against Russian aggression," the official added.

In his opinion, the Russians should take into account that the Ukrainians "show no intention of slowing down" due to the weather in their desire to return their territories.