In a commentary for Consortium News on Oct. 31, former Marine officer and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter focused on a change in tone and content of briefings by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby in talking about the “Ukraine” war with Russia, proposing that Kirby is “trying to prepare the American audience for some significant developments on the battlefield that exclusively favor Russia.”
Ritter compared Kirby’s remarks in 2022 and since, about giving Ukraine the weapons they need to “win,” with Kirby motivating the Biden Administration’s current funding demand on Congress; Kirby said it was enabling Ukraine “to hold on and hold the—on the defense against this offensive, successfully repelling Russian tank columns that have been advancing on Avdiivka.”
