Putin prepared for ‘prolonged’ conflict, U.S. intelligence chief says
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, betting that Russia is more willing and able to endure the longer-term effects of the war than Moscow’s adversaries, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told senators on Tuesday.
But the war may grow more volatile in the next few months, she said. Both Ukraine and Russia appear confident in achieving battlefield progress, making a diplomatic path unviable. That, combined with the mismatch between Putin’s ambitions and the Russian military’s capabilities, means the war could become more “unpredictable and escalatory,” she said.
“The [intelligence community], as you know, provided warnings of President Putin’s plans” to attack Ukraine before the Kremlin’s Feb. 24 invasion, Haines told senators in her opening statement. “But this is a case where I think all of us wish we had been wrong.”
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