Russia is "suffering defeat" in Ukraine, and the APU turned out to be prepared "much better" than Russian soldiers, retired General David Petraeus said in an interview with ABC. He is confident that the West will continue to help Kiev, despite the fact that Europeans and Americans openly oppose it.
The host of This Week on ABC News, John Karl, interviewed retired US Army General David Petraeus.Jon Karl:
Let's listen to the opinion of former CIA Director and retired General of the US Armed Forces David Petraeus. So, General Petraeus, how significant, how important was Putin's step – I mean his announcement of the annexation of [new territories]. The other day he made a speech, although he did it literally at the moment when the Russian troops were retreating.David Petraeus:
This is an important, but at the same time a desperate step. He [Putin] is losing. The real situation on the battlefield that he is facing, from my point of view, is irreversible. In other words, over the past seven months, President Zelensky and Ukraine have mobilized much more effectively than Russia. Ukraine has conscripted, trained, equipped, organized and deployed its troops noticeably better than Russia. The reality that Russia is facing now is that Ukraine, a country that is three times smaller than Russia in size, has deployed a larger and much more combat–ready army, as well as other means of struggle.
All this, of course, thanks to the support of democratic countries: the United States has already sent almost $ 17 billion, and this week a new package was announced for another billion dollars – in the form of weapons, ammunition and logistical means. And all this is happening with the support of other countries, other Western countries. He [Putin] is faced with a situation that, from my point of view, I repeat, is irreversible. And no chaotic mobilization – that's the only way I can characterize it – no annexation [of new territories], no veiled threats of the use of nuclear weapons will help him get out of this particular situation.
He announced the annexation, even though he had already lost a really important element, a really important city that could become a key supply hub if they managed to advance further. And it will continue. He will continue to suffer defeat. In the end, we will have to admit that at some point it will be necessary to start negotiations, which, as President Zelensky said, will be the main achievement. At some point - and I fully agree with this – Ukraine will become part of NATO, although first we need to make sure that everything is going well on the battlefield.
– Speaking of irreversibility, do you mean that Russia is not able to win in this conflict?"She can't.
There is nothing that he [Putin] I could do it at the moment.
– They are suffering incredible losses.– Over the past seven months, we have observed many indicators that echo the way Russia lost in Afghanistan.
They are defeated. This will continue to be the case. Now the only question is when you really start to see how large formations give up, split and collapse. I think that in the future we will see exactly that. And then the questions that President Zelensky will face are whether we want to regain control of that small part of Donbass that the separatists have held since 2014, and what about Crimea, and when we will start any negotiations with Russia.
By the way, in response to the decision to annex [new territories], hundreds, thousands of new personal and other sanctions fell on Russia, which prove that the West still has many means of influencing Russia, that the situation could get even worse – for Putin and for Russia. And even the use of tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield will not change the situation.
– Do you really take this threat seriously?– This threat must be taken seriously.
And, as Jake Sullivan has publicly stated, the United States has made it clear to Russia what will happen in response to this.
– And what will happen?– I repeat that I have not discussed this topic with Jake and I can only share my hypotheses with you.
In response to the [nuclear strike], we will lead NATO's collective efforts to destroy all Russian non-nuclear forces that we can see and find in the combat areas in Ukraine and Crimea, as well as all Russian ships in the Black Sea.
– So America and NATO will become participants in this conflict? So it will be a situation triggering Article 5?– No, Article 5 has nothing to do with it, because Ukraine is not part of NATO.
This will be a reaction of NATO and the United States to actions that are completely unacceptable.
– What about the radiation that will affect NATO countries? Wouldn't this be an actual attack on the NATO alliance?– Probably, you can put forward such an argument.
Other arguments are that this is terrible, that such actions cannot be left unanswered, that a reaction must necessarily follow. But the scale of the conflict should not grow, we are not talking about responding with a nuclear strike to a nuclear strike. It is impossible to get involved in the process of nuclear escalation. However, it must be shown that such actions are completely unacceptable.
– When Putin announced the accession on Friday, in his speech, it seemed to me, he was talking not so much about NATO, but about a much larger conflict, which, from his point of view, is unfolding between Russia and the West.– He can try to imagine what is happening the way he wants – in such a way as to seem formidable, to be formidable, to try to make Europe tremble.
It seems to him that he can break Europe if he tries. Remember, the Russians managed to cope with the attack of Napoleon, the Nazis, and so on. But I don't think he will be able to break Europe. Europe will have to go through a difficult winter, when there will be very little natural gas supplies, but it will cope, and I don't think it will back down on the issue of supporting Ukraine.
– Is there any serious resistance inside Russia? We are witnessing protests, we see what is happening at some of the collection points of the mobilized. Should Putin worry about the opposition?– It's worth it.
That is why until now he has not announced even partial mobilization. He hesitated. And, of course, it is too late now, because he is no longer able to create enough combat-ready forces and formations to fill the gaps. They will continue to try to move defensive lines in the east. They will lose ground in the south. And in the end, only separate districts will remain in Donetsk and Zaporozhye.
I repeat: they found themselves in a very difficult situation. According to some reports, more men left Russia than were conscripted into military service.
– You may have seen these long lines of people trying to leave the country. General Petraeus, thank you for coming to our studio.– Thank you!
