NATO expert predicts three possible ends of the war in Ukraine

Former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Philip Breedlove is one of those four-star American generals who teach when they speak. He has given an interview to a great connoisseur of the old continent newsweek In which he talks about three possible scenarios in which the war in Ukraine would simply end.

Nothing is simple or immediate, but everything is possible at this point in the championship, with the Russian invasion set to reach two years next month. And they have one thing in common: we must act. He said, “If we don’t do anything different from what we are doing now, Ukraine will ultimately lose because Russia has more people and depth than Ukraine.”

International aid is necessary in the first scenario, because if not, many more Ukrainians will die and Russia will “take over all of Ukraine, which will once again be its vassal.” No matter how courageous your resistance.

Breedlove, who as NATO commander from 2013 to 2016 oversaw the fallout from Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which preceded his current full-scale invasion, says that “if the West decides to give Ukraine what it wants… Ukraine will win this war if it needs to win. He insists, “This war is going to end exactly the way Western politicians want and need it to end.”

“Maneuvers start with air superiority,” Breedlove said. Supporting President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim, he stressed, “We have not given Ukraine what it needs to establish air superiority.” “We are not giving them what they need to win. Rather, we are giving them enough to survive on the battlefield – he adds – (…) Western leaders became aware of their fears are” and, thus, are “incapable of thinking about what a defeated Putin means.”

The second end can come when the full potential of that help is exploited. There is material that has been delivered late, not when Ukraine requested it, such as American Bradley fighting vehicles and German-made Leopard tanks. This also includes disruption in areas like Bajmut, where many resources and many already trained hands have been burnt. The information reads, “They did not train adequately for their assault brigades, for their maneuver. They depended on newly formed brigades.”

And much more: Russia moved forward with its GPS-controlled precision weapons, achieving much faster than expected, a progress that did not go unnoticed. If the arms supply chain and training of Ukrainian soldiers improved, things could change.

After all, Ukraine’s Western partners could turn to a proven Cold War strategy: deter and contain Russia “wherever it is needed and by whatever means necessary in Ukraine and on NATO borders.”

“Ukraine can point to some major positives. It has gained almost complete control of the northwestern Black Sea, pushing the Russian Navy to the east and southeast. On land, Ukrainian forces advanced so “It has begun to use short-range attacks with artillery fire on the land bridge to Crimea, which they regularly attack,” he noted.

The US has temporarily unblocked its budget but confirmed it has given Kiev the last aid it had in its portfolio, while Europe has 50 billion euros for the next four years, depending on Hungary. If all efforts are made, as was the case in the Cold War, Russia may become isolated.