US ready even for renewed 'Russian offensive' in Ukraine: DOS official
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A US official lists some of the many challenges that the US thinks lay ahead for Russia to engage in a supposed "offensive".
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US ready for Russian "contingencies" in Ukraine: US State Department
A US State Department official told sources on Tuesday that there was currently a debate taking place within the Kremlin to decide whether or not to renew a supposed offensive in Ukraine.
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters that no matter what decision Russia takes, Washington is fully prepared to provide Kiev with all the assistance it needs.
"Certainly there are some (within Russia) who I think would want to pursue (new) offensives in Ukraine. There are others who have real questions about the capacity for Russia to actually do that," he claimed.
The official further listed some of the many challenges that the US thinks lay ahead for Russia to engage in a supposed offensive, including that Moscow is experiencing "significant" shortages of ammunition and that its troops lacked cohesivity, as per the official's claims.
"There are all sorts of things that the Russians are dealing with in terms of having the necessary equipment, having the necessary ammunition that put some constraints on what they may want to do," he said.
"At the same time, it's a very large machine."
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Of course, the validity of these statements is questionable considering that Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov already confirmed that Russia's operation was far from over.
"The Ukraine conflict — I would say in this case, a special military operation in Ukraine, from our point of view — can be completed after the goals are achieved," Peskov told reporters at a briefing on November 11.
On December 13, Peskov told reporters that there can be no discussion about a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine before the end of the year, adding that in order to achieve peace, it would be necessary for Kiev to come to terms with the reality that Russia acquired new regions into its territory.
Moreover, the terms "offensives" and "contingencies" do not seem to fit much into the status quo considering that the operation is carried out within the framework of defending Russia's national security.
In light of NATO's eastward expansion, Russia's demands could shortly be summarized as follows: a ban on Ukraine's membership to NATO, a limit to the deployment of troops and weapons to NATO's eastern flank, for the west to provide Russia "legal guarantees" of its security, and for NATO to rule out further expansion.
Since the war began in Ukraine, Western countries such as the US and Britain, as well as European states, have aggressively supplied Kiev with billions of dollars worth of weaponry and hysterically imposed numerous sanctions against Russia, adding fuel to the fire in the war and depleting their own stockpiles.
Yesterday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the West’s hysterical reaction to the Ukraine war only confirms Russia's conclusion that the special military operation was necessary.
"The hysterical reaction of our Western colleagues from the US team to our actions as part of the special military operation only confirms our key conclusion that the special military operation - and we already have evidence of this - that it was absolutely necessary to derail their plans of making Ukraine a permanent threat to Russia’s security," he said, adding that "this reaction revealed that the West has understood that our actions wrecked their geopolitical games and plans."
