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CIA chief laments Putin's 'hubris'

2023-02-27T18:46:01.819Z


William Burns, who has kept one of the few open channels of communication with Moscow, calls Russia's war of attrition in Ukraine a "strategic failure".


Adrien Jaulmes, correspondent in Washington

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CIA Director William Burns believes that Vladimir Putin continues to overestimate his strengths and his ability to win the war in Ukraine.

"Putin is currently far too confident in his ability to wear down Ukrainian defenses, to nibble on them

," Burns explained Sunday in a long interview with the American channel CBS News.

"At some point he's going to have to deal with rising costs, coffins going into some of the poorest parts of Russia, where a lot of the conscripts are from who are being dumped as cannon fodder on the front… All of this will add up over time, but for now… he continues to show hubris in his view of the war”.

Read also“Six lessons to be learned from Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine”

A former career diplomat, Russian-speaking, ex-ambassador to Moscow, Burns was one of the last senior American officials to meet Vladimir Putin a few months before the invasion of Ukraine.

Under his direction, the CIA had in a completely unprecedented way made public what it knew of the imminent Russian attack.

The intelligence provided by the Americans has since played a considerable role in Ukraine's defense success.

Burns also maintained one of the few open communication channels with Moscow.

Last November, he met his Russian counterpart Sergei Naryshkin in Ankara.

"The conversation I had with '

him

' was quite disheartening

," the CIA director said, however

.

“He had a very defiant attitude…you felt a lot of arrogance and pride.

I think it reflected Putin's own view of the war, his belief that time is on Russia's side, that they will eventually crush the Ukrainians, that our European allies will tire, that political fatigue will eventually wear off. 'install ".

Read alsoAccording to the Kremlin Magus, Vladimir Putin did not want the Minsk 2 agreements

“In my experience Putin believes that we Americans suffer from attention deficit disorder and eventually we will move on.

His belief is that he can't win right now, but he can't afford to lose... So instead of looking for ways to back out or find a way out, he just doubles down put…despite the fact that the operation is objectively a strategic failure for Russia”.

The CIA director believes that the only possible path to a negotiated solution is to first convince the Russian leader that he cannot achieve a military victory.

"As a former diplomat that I am, I would like to see opportunities for negotiations

," Burns said

.

“But I don't think the Russians are serious about negotiating right now.

Only progress on the battlefield will improve prospects in the future… As the President (Biden) has said I believe it is our duty, not only as an intelligence community, but also as a government, to provide all possible support to the Ukrainians, so that they can strengthen their position on the battlefield and, ultimately,

China's role

Burns also said he

"made clear"

to his Russian counterpart

"the grave consequences should Russia ever decide to use a nuclear weapon of any type."

I think Naryshkin understood the seriousness of this issue and I think President Putin also understood it”

Read alsoWar in Ukraine: China calls for “peace”, closing ranks with Russia

Burns also confirmed that the United States was concerned about possible arms shipments from China to Russia.

“This is an issue that we are following very closely…we are convinced that the Chinese leadership is considering supplying lethal equipment.

We also don't believe a final decision has been made at this time…I really hope they don't”.

The director of the CIA finally felt that the war in Ukraine had been followed very closely by China.

“No foreign leader has watched Vladimir Putin's experience in Ukraine and the evolution of the war more closely than Xi Jinping.

And I think in many ways he was unsettled and made wary by what he saw.

He was surprised by the very poor military performance of the Russians.

I think he was also surprised by the degree of solidarity and support from the West towards Ukraine”.

Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Vladimir Putin's worrying headlong rush

But Burns doesn't think that lesson guarantees that China has completely given up on the idea of ​​taking control of Taiwan by force.

“We must take Xi Jinping's Taiwan ambitions very seriously,”

Burns said, but

“that does not mean, however, that military conflict is inevitable….

I think President Xi and his military leaders today doubt their ability to carry out an invasion.

Putin's experience in Ukraine probably reinforced their doubts

.

But

“the risks of a potential use of force are likely to increase in this decade and the next.

So it's something that we're watching very, very carefully."

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-27

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