-
According to the Pentagon, a delay in US funding for Ukraine has not led to any gains on the battlefield for Russia.
-
The Ukrainians “did a good job of holding their ground,” a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
-
Experts initially assumed that Russia would take full advantage of the delay to gain ground.
Russia failed to gain a head start in its war against Ukraine despite delays in U.S. funding, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.
“Russia continues to try to gain ground, but the Ukrainians have done a good job of holding their ground,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference.
According to Ryder, it took seven months for the US to “get additional security assistance and additional funding for Ukraine.” But the delay did not improve Russia’s position in Ukraine.
“The Russians have tried to take Ukrainian territory, but they haven’t achieved much in terms of the amount of geography they’ve been able to conquer,” Ryder added.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, which was sent outside regular business hours.
Ryder’s comments on Tuesday were surprising, as experts initially expected that delays in U.S. funding would lead to a large increase in Russian attacks.
In April, the House of Representatives finally approved more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. Fierce GOP opposition delayed passage of the bill for months.
“The situation on the front is likely to deteriorate further during that time, especially if Russian forces step up their attacks to take advantage of the limited time before new American aid arrives,” the Institute for the Study of War said in April.
In May, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukraine could still “hold out” and withstand Russian attacks until 2024, the Financial Times reported.
Sullivan also said he did not expect a Ukrainian counteroffensive to occur until 2025.
“You can’t just flip the switch,” he said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
