According to William Burns, the head of the Kremlin shows that he is determined to fight decisively. He is still too confident that he will be able to break Ukraine and Europe, and the United States will eventually focus on another problem.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, said that the Russian president will face the real consequences of the war of his invasion of Ukraine after the coffins from the war begin to come en masse to the poorest regions of the Russian Federation. We are talking about Dagestan and Buryatia. Burns spoke about this in an interview with CBC News.
According to the head of the CIA, Putin is still too confident that he will be able to break Ukraine with the help of conscripts who are thrown into battle as “cannon fodder.” The head of the Kremlin has already made it clear that he has no compassion, he does not care about human sacrifices.
Burns also noted that the Russian Federation has already faced serious reputational damage, and its problems with the economy are growing. Despite this, Putin shows that he is determined to fight decisively.
“And I think the most important thing, as we look ahead to 2023 and provide all possible material and intelligence support to our Ukrainian partners, is to dispel Putin’s arrogance and restore momentum on the battlefield,” Burns said.
According to him, Putin believes that the United States has an “attention deficit disorder,” and therefore, soon, when Ukraine and Europe are allegedly tired, Washington’s attention will be switched to another problem. The Kremlin understands that they cannot win now, but they cannot afford to lose. That is why the Russian political leadership prefers to raise the stakes.
Burns noted that Putin in 2021, months before a full-scale invasion, felt that the strategic window of opportunity to regain control of Ukraine was closing. And he needs Ukraine to build a “big Russian power.”
“And so he also convinced himself that early 2022 is tactically favorable terrain for Russia to launch an invasion,” Burns said.
Earlier, ISW analysts said that Putin could soon face a shortage of recruits. So, if the Kremlin increases the mobilization reserve, Russians physically unfit for war will be sent to the front, which can hit the economy hard.
WSJ journalists found out that Putin is using Africa to sell oil to Europe in circumvention of sanctions. Tunisia and Morocco have significantly increased their purchases of Russian oil products, which is not in line with their needs.
