Standing alongside his Ukrainian counterpart at the White House a little more than a year ago, President Joe Biden vowed American support for Ukraine “as long as it takes.” It’s a commitment he’s long repeated in the 22 months since Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
On Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky was paying another visit to Washington under dramatically altered circumstances, Biden pledged the US would provide critical weapons and equipment “as long as we can.”
The quiet shift in language appeared to acknowledge a reality made even starker following Zelensky’s eleventh-hour appeal for more assistance: American backing for Ukraine is neither a guarantee nor an open-ended commitment. What comes next for Ukraine – a harsh winter of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure made worse by the fading prospect of help coming from Capitol Hill – is daunting.
Biden administration officials say that both the US and Ukraine recognize that Ukraine has to change its strategy in the coming year if it wants to push the Russians further back and secure a more favorable negotiating position once the time comes for peace talks.
Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, have in recent weeks asked their US counterparts for more face time with senior US military officials, recognizing that “something has to change” in how Ukraine is waging the war against Russia, two US defense officials said.
In response, the US has decided to allow General Antonio Aguto – who currently leads a joint forces command stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, called Security Assistance Group-Ukraine – to enter Ukraine for longer stretches of time to advise Ukrainian forces, the officials said.
Previously, Biden administration officials were reluctant to allow senior military officials to remain in Ukraine for long periods…
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