Ukraine war: Putin "angry and frustrated" - CIA chief warns of "ugly" weeks

Created: 03/09/2022, 12:56 p.m

By: Jennifer Lanzinger

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Archive photo) © Thibault Camus/AFP

The war in Ukraine rages on, for CIA chief Williams Burns it is clear: Russian President Vladimir Putin has miscalculated.

Now he is "angry and frustrated".

Moscow/Washington/Kyiv – The Ukraine war* keeps the whole world in suspense, and the local fighting continued on Tuesday.

If the CIA chief has his way, the next few weeks are likely to remain gloomy.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin is therefore most likely "angry and frustrated".

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj again reported with dramatic words.

More on the background of the Ukraine crisis* here.

Ukraine war: CIA chief explains - Putin is angry and frustrated

The head of the US foreign intelligence service CIA, William Burns, predicts dark weeks in the Ukraine war.

"I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now," Burns said Tuesday at a hearing in the US Congress on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"He will probably go one step further and try to crush the Ukrainian military without regard for civilian casualties." The next few weeks would probably be "ugly" and the fighting in the cities even worse than before.

Hundreds of dead civilians have already been reported, and minors have also fallen victim to the fighting.

A sustainable solution for Putin is not in sight, said the CIA chief.

It is not foreseeable how the Kremlin chief in Ukraine could maintain a puppet regime or a pro-Russian leadership, which he is trying to install against the massive resistance of the Ukrainian population.

For Putin, the attack on Ukraine is a matter of deep personal conviction.

"He's had an explosive mix of grief and ambition for many years," Burns said.

“He has created a system in which his own circle of advisors is becoming ever narrower.

Covid has made this circle even tighter.

And it's a system where questioning or challenging one's judgment isn't proving career-enhancing."

As if that weren't enough, the head of the secret service also argues that Putin made a complete miscalculation in his decision to attack Ukraine.

Putin thought Ukraine was weak and easily intimidated.

On the other hand, Putin probably suspected that Europeans, especially the French and Germans, were distracted and risk-averse by the elections in France and the change in leadership in Germany.

"Third, he believed he had sanction-proofed his economy." In addition, the Kremlin chief felt confident that he had modernized his military and that it was capable of winning a quick victory at minimal cost.

All of these assessments turned out to be wrong.

Selenskyj conjures up Ukrainian fighting spirit before British House of Commons

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has once again displayed his fighting spirit.

In his address to the British House of Commons on Tuesday, Zelenskyj asked London for further support.

The Ukrainian President was connected via video call from Kyiv.

For Ukraine, in the face of the Russian attack, it is a question of Shakespeare's "to be or not to be".

In view of the tenacious resistance of his compatriots against the Russian army, he could now give a definitive answer.

"It is definitely: to be," said Zelenskyj.

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The speech was met with great applause from the deputies.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after Zelenskyy's speech that the House of Commons had never heard such a speech before.

According to the British Prime Minister, Ukraine will be supported with weapons and sanctions and all diplomatic, humanitarian and economic means to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan to subdue the country.*

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