Vladimir Putin ‘frustrated’ with progress of forces in Ukraine, says US Security Advisor Jake Sullivan

Washington, Mar 13 (PTI) Russian President Vladimir Putin is “frustrated” by the progress his forces have made in Ukraine, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, as he vowed “every inch of NATO territory” will be defended.

“Vladimir Putin is frustrated by the fact that his forces are not making the kind of progress that he thought they would make against major cities, including (capital) Kyiv; that he is expanding the number of targets, that he is lashing out, and that he is trying to cause damage in every part of the country (reflects that),” Sullivan told CNN in an interview.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, leading to intense battles in all major cities and towns of the country. Fragmented cease-fire talks are yet to bear results. The United States, Sullivan said, has been warning since well before the invasion begun in February that the Russian plans involve attacking all over Ukraine – north, south, east and west. “So, this (country-wide attack) does not come as a surprise to the American intelligence and national security community,” he said.

America, he reiterated, will not have US military forces operating in Ukraine, and there are none operating there now. “But we will defend every inch of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) territory, even as we seek to provide military assistance to the Ukrainian fighters who are bravely defending their homes and bravely defending their cities,” he said. US President Joe Biden, he said, has been in close contact with the Ukrainian leadership and speaks to his counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy regularly. “He speaks to him on a regular basis to get updates on what is an ongoing communication between Ukrainian negotiators and Russian negotiators,” he said.

“That is the negotiation that matters, because, ultimately, it is Ukraine that will have to make its own sovereign decisions about the shape of any diplomacy going forward. From the United States’ perspective, we’re here to stay in touch with all the key players – the French, the Germans, the Israelis, and others, but ultimately to support the Ukrainians. And, as things stand right now, Vladimir Putin does not look like he is prepared to stop the onslaught,” he said.

Sullivan told Cable News Network (CNN) that the United States will continue to escalate pressure on Putin and continue to support the Ukrainians as they fight to defend their territory. The death of an American journalist, he said, is a shocking and horrifying event. “It is one more example of the brutality of Vladimir Putin and his forces, as they have targeted schools and mosques and hospitals and journalists,” he said.

Brent Renaud, a video journalist, died in Russian firing near Kyiv on Sunday, local police said. In terms of military assistance to Ukraine, Sullivan said American focus is on anti-air defence systems, as well as other forms of assistance. “Right now, we are not looking at the provision of the fighter jets in question to Ukraine. We are looking at other methods of getting the Ukrainian defenders advanced capabilities to be able to blunt the Russian advance and protect Ukrainian towns and cities,” he said.

“What I’m confident of is that the United States, our NATO allies and partners and the Ukrainians have set up a system where we believe we will continue to be able to flow substantial amounts of military assistance and weapons to the front lines to help the Ukrainians ensure that Ukraine is a strategic failure for Vladimir Putin,” he said.

“Of course, these convoys (military assistance) are going through a war zone. And so to describe them as safe wouldn’t quite be accurate. But we believe that we have methods and systems in place to be able to continue to support the Ukrainians as they fight very bravely, very effectively against the attacking Russian forces,” he said.

Responding to a question, Sullivan said China was aware before the invasion took place that Vladimir Putin was planning something. “They may not have understood the full extent of it, because it’s very possible that Putin lied to them, the same way that he lied to Europeans and others,” he said. “We also are watching closely to see the extent to which China actually does provide any form of support – material or economic – to Russia. It is a concern of ours. And we have communicated to Beijing that we will not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions,” he said.

The United States, he said, is communicating directly and privately to Beijing that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanction evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them. “We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world,” Sullivan said.

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