Tuesday, September 19, 2023

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg And Top U.S. General Mark Milley Say 'We Must Prepare Ourselves For A Long War In Ukraine'

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg And Top U.S. General Mark Milley. Department of Defense  

Zero Hedge: Milley & Stoltenberg Agree: 'We Must Prepare Ourselves For A Long War In Ukraine' 

Two top Western officials have just said that NATO is preparing to settle in for a "long war" in Ukraine, as the prospect for peace negotiations retreats further and further on the horizon. 

 First, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview published Sunday by Germany's Funke Media Group said the alliance is committed to seeing military support to Kiev through, and that this is the only way to achieve peace. "Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine," he said, and added: "We must recognize that if Zelensky and the Ukrainians stop fighting, their country will no longer exist. If President Putin and Russia stop fighting, we will have peace."  

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: Here are the remarks from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg .... NATO chief warns Ukraine allies to prepare for ‘long war’ (Politico.eu). More here .... Ukraine's allies must be prepared for a 'long war', Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg warns (Daily Mail). 

Here are the remarks from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley .... Top US general: Removing Russia from Ukraine a ‘very high bar’ (The Hill). More here .... General Mark Milley Says Ukraine Faces ‘Very High Bar’ for Kyiv’s Ultimate Goal (Kyiv Post). 

My sources in Russia are telling me the same thing. Unless Russia changes its strategy of maintaining a defensive posture while conducting a war of attrition, this war is going to go into 2025 and beyond.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Once NATO and USA is weakened im pretty sure CHINA will invade Taiwan.

Anonymous said...

ok

They support the Ukraine no matter what. For as long as it takes.

That is nice. But what does it mean?

What are the conditions for winning? What happens if the conditions are unattainable? What then?

How long is "for long as it takes"? 2 years, 10 years, 100?

This is the problem with these open-ended assurances. They mean nothing and give no clear cut goals or hold anyone accountable or responsible.

We see how well that worked in Afghanistan and other wars we have fought.

The other part of this is the Ukrainians. How long are they going to be able to hold out under such significant human loss?

The west can say "we have your back" all they want. It is not them being bled to death. In an open ended conflict it looks that is exactly what is going to happen....a bleed out. Prepare for a long war? Great and in the end ..what will be the result? a nation left with only the very old and very young?
No skin off the west's nose.

Alex said...

A Russian agent working for a Ukrainian partisan group successfully carried out an attack at a Russian military base last week, the Kyiv Post said.

Ukrainian Partisans Say Russian Double Agents Kill Own in Exchange for Money: Report

Anonymous said...

Maybe they lie

Anonymous said...

WNU Editor's comments once again border on the absurd. Russia has not maintained a "defensive posture" in 2023. It has undertaken multiple, but failed offensives. Surovikin's defensive strategy was reversed because Putin wanted to take more land, and Gerasimov adopted an offensive posture. There was the six month long winter/spring offensive which only netted Russia Bakhmut after severe casualties. Then Russia launched its offensive in Luhansk in an attempt to divert Ukraine's offensive in the south or exploit what it thought was weakened Ukrainian defenses there. That has also failed without any territorial gaines other than minor tactical ones. Both times when these offensives were launched, WNU Editor predicted utter disaster for Ukraine (just as he did at the beginning of the war and during the summer 22 offensive that managed to take Severodonetsk), but those disasters never happened. WNU Editor doesn't want to admit Russia is not able to launch a successful offensive, so he pretends they never happened.

Even in their defense in the south and Bakhmut, Russia has pursued a rather aggressive tactic of launching immediate counterattacks rather than falling back and utilizing the extensive defense networks they've built. Those tactical counterattacks has managed to prevent Ukraine from taking a lot of land, but at the cost of destroying the combat capacity of much of the Russian army. We have seen recently that Russian defenders are becoming exhausted and gaps in the lines are beginning to appear. If Ukraine gets lucky and it is a late rasputitsa this year, then we might even seen a significant breakout in the next month. Putin is probably praying for rain right now., as his troops desperately need a break in the fighting.

Forbes has recently reported how much Russia is spending on the war in Ukraine including on compensation to families for the dead and wounded. I don't know how Forbes generated these numbers, but according to one analysis their figures indicate that Russia has something like 372k dead and 508k wounded, which means total Russian casualties is almost 900k. Personally, those figures seem too high for me. But if Forbes' figures is anywhere accurate, it means huge Russian losses. That would explain why Russia has thrown in their last strategic reserves (albeit only 80% manned and 55% equipped) into the battle. They're desperate to plug the gaps right now by using anything available. Russia will likely not be able to conduct any significant strategic or operational offensives for the rest of the war.

Chris

Anonymous said...

The owner of WABC radio is announcing that Joe Biden gave China 10 billion dollars.

Biden cares more about China than the American people.

Anonymous said...

507. Welcome to trench war fare. That is one of its characteristics. You take a trench, it gets taken back. Thats how this works. Stupid , but that's how it is.

239 yea sure.

Here, take a look at the analysis here.

https://en.zona.media/article/2022/05/20/casualties_eng.

900 k casualties no way. more like 100k , if that...for the whole war.

Russian gaps and units exhausted? That is not so either. And no, the russians have not deployed thier reserves.

The Ukrainians have and now there is nothing left to do the supportive breach or do a. exploitation.

Which begs the question.

What is the wests next move. I see no effort by the west to "build the 4 th Ukrainian army". Since Army 1 and 2 are gone and the 3rd is currently being used up in the offensive.

What is the plan for new forces to field? have not seen anything on that one yet.


Anonymous said...

6:03

Sure. You have to take back each and every trench no matter if it kills 3 times as many of your own troops as defending.

Makes perfect sense if like you is manning a keyboard.

Anonymous said...

Is everybody "absurd" to you?

Whether McGregor, the editor, or anyone else you analyze. What's up with that?

Anonymous said...

609,

your problem is you believe that 3 times stuff. I do not. Let me guess, that figure comes from the Ukrainian Ministry of defense?

Anonymous said...

what 2 39 does not understand is this.

The Russians have for the most part been on the defensive this whole year.

so yo can ask the question....But what about bakhmut?

Worked well did it not...Pulled Ukrainian forces into an area and keep them there by popping attacks and using artillery if they tried to advance. Killed most of those poor souls. More defensive than offensive. An offense in terms of advancing, a defence in terms of killing.

Now, The Russians are using the defensive line as a main effort

The secondary effort are these "offensives". These drives do a couple of things. One they are like a recon in force to see how much resistance you get and the capability of your enemy. Then you withdraw and hopefully they come after you, so you can bomb them along the way.

Or you send out forces , just enough to force the ukies to "keep " troops in that zone. You want them there so you can kill them there...The place of your own choosing.

Or you play the running game. you send forces out of the fort... attack the enemy. get the enemy to come out of their holes, then you move back into the fort and while they are exposed you cut the down with indirect fie.

Mostly defensive warfare. Moltke said the defence is the superior form of warfare. But you do not win unless you advance.

Guess the Russians are not ready to advance. At this rate, why should they? You are weakening these Ukies very hard. Give it a couple of months or a year, the Ukrainian army will be a hollow shell....If they keep this insanity of theirs up.


Anonymous said...

iden gave X dollars to China, says a comment above:
1. how much given
2. for what given
3. source of information
with the lack of information I can say: I do not believe what you say.

Anonymous said...

The US will destroy itself next year with the election. It’s a powder keg waiting for that spark ⚡️

Anonymous said...

9:39 it's coming!

Anonymous said...

That traitor Milley is STILL NOT COURT-MARTIALED???

Anonymous said...

By now, morale in the Ukrainian army must be pretty damn low. This non-moving offensive has done little or nothing to brighten the future and it would seem the sacrifices of bakhmut were in vain.

the NATO units were promoted as the end all, to end all. A stake into the heart of the vampire. Instead it is turned into meat grinder part 2.

Nothing is worse psychologically than having high hopes or expectations crushed,


If you have any intel to say different , sure would like see it.