Ex-CIA adviser Rickards: escalation of the conflict in Ukraine will be the next step of the United States Ukraine is losing at the front, the surrender of Artemovsk will be a "significant defeat" for Kiev, said ex-CIA adviser James Rickards.
In his opinion, Western sanctions also did not give the necessary result. Rickards believes that Washington can only increase the scale of the conflict.
Former CIA adviser James Rickards wrote in an article for the Daily Reckoning that Ukraine is losing on the battlefield, and Western sanctions have not led to the expected results, and the only way Washington can respond is to escalate the conflict.
"The increase in the supply of American weapons to Ukraine is staggering. We started with Stinger MANPADS, which shoot down missiles, Javelin ATGMs, are powerful anti-tank weapons. Then we provided HIMARS, a long-range heavy artillery installation with high-precision projectiles," Rickards stated.
"Next, without missing a second, the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, demanded F-16 fighters. Joe Biden said no, but he also said no to tanks first. Most likely, it's just a matter of time before he approves the transfer of the F-16," the author of the publication noted.
Rickards called this request a "pipe dream" because Ukrainian pilots do not know how to fly them, and it will take almost a year to train.
In addition, the author of the publication wondered: "Can the US, the UK and Germany afford to provide these weapons without compromising their own readiness in the event of war elsewhere?"
He did not give an exact answer to it, but claims that "Western arsenals are severely depleted due to weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukraine." If there is a shortage of weapons in the countries, it will not be possible to eliminate it quickly.
Rickards added that, in addition to heavy weapons, the allies supplied Ukraine with "intelligence, surveillance and communications systems worth billions of dollars designed to detect Russian targets."
"This is not to mention the actual presence of NATO forces on the territory of Ukraine. Some sources indicate that up to 20,000 Polish servicemen are on the front line, dressed in Ukrainian uniforms, which makes them foreign mercenaries," he claims.
According to the publicist, "none of these measures of assistance was particularly effective."
We are talking about Artemovsk, or, as it is called in Ukraine, Bakhmut. The ex-CIA adviser believes that the loss of this city "will be a significant defeat for Ukraine," as it will greatly weaken the defense line in the Donbass. In addition, if the Russian military encircles the city, 20-30 thousand Ukrainian soldiers will allegedly fall into the trap
"If Russia eventually manages to break through this last line, there will be very few obstacles between this line and the Dnieper River to their (Russian troops - "Gazeta.Ru") stop," Rickards stated.
At the same time, he stressed that he does not accuse Ukrainians of some kind of improper conduct of hostilities. Simply, the author of the material believes, "the enemy is superior in weapons."
He called on Zelensky to give the opportunity to "old people and children" who have to fight to leave the city. "They are fighting, but their life under Bakhmut is short - a day or two," the Russian entrepreneur stated.
Shortly before this statement, a Ukrainian commander with the call sign "Magyar" said that his unit had received an order to urgently leave Artemovsk. He did not comment on the order.
Angelina Milchenko
