A senior Whitehall source essentially told The Times of London that British strategy, since British military intelligence chiefs believe that Ukraine cannot win the war against Russia, is to keep the war going another year into 2025. No mention is made of the Kiev regime’s manpower problems, or what kind of casualties the Ukrainian army and (remaining) civilian population will suffer, should London succeed in keeping the war going for another year. That proposed strategy belies the anxiety and dread in Europe that Donald Trump may win the U.S. 2024 election, and end U.S. support for the Kiev regime. “Can continental Europe afford to fold just because Trump says no more U.S. dollars? I think most realize that Putin can’t be allowed to win, as consequences for European security are grave,” said the Whitehall source.
One way to victory, the source claimed, is to stretch Russian President Vladimir Putin and his army so thinly that he is forced to give up. He added that no matter what the President’s threshold for pain is, he would be unable to sustain the war indefinitely. “2024 isn’t about big operational success—there’s unlikely to be a big breakthrough this year. 2024 is about stretching Putin into 2025 and beyond—effectively calling his bluff and testing his resolve,” the source said.
The source went on about how the Kiev regime is feeling abandoned, but added that the U.K.’s weapons stockpiles are so diminished that the U.K. had “nothing” left, and it was better for them to lobby the Germans. He did, however, point out that the U.K. was critical in persuading other countries to give the Ukraine arms, and in acting as a third party in facilitating those deliveries.
Meanwhile, an article in the Telegraph is focused on the insufficient supply of air defense weapons to Kiev. Ukraine faces the prospect of allowing its cities to be bombed by Russia this winter, as missile supplies from the United States dry up, the Telegraph says, citing “experts” warning that Ukraine’s air defenses will be unable to repel all of Vladimir Putin’s winter bombing campaign, obliging Ukraine’s military to choose which targets to defend.
There is particular concern about the supply of Patriot interceptor missiles, first supplied to Ukraine in April. “There will be some systems where they will have to ration their ammunition even more than they are at the moment,” Kiev-based defense analyst Jimmy Rushton is quoted as saying. “It could be a case that they have to just not engage some targets, because they don’t have enough interceptors to go around.”
