Russia has misplaced ‘strategically, operationally and tactically,’ top US overall says

Ten days from now is the one year anniversary when Russia brutally, illegally and in a completely unprovoked way invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine. As the secretary just pointed out. Putin thought he could defeat Ukraine, quickly fracture of the NATO alliance.

And act with impunity. He was wrong. Ukraine remains free. They remain independent. Naito in this coalition has never been stronger. And Russia is now a global pariah. And the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience.

In short, Russia has lost. They've lost strategically, operationally and tactically, and they are paying an enormous price on the battlefield. But until Putin ends his war of choice, the international community will continue to support Ukraine with the equipment and capability.

It needs to defend itself. Through this group, we are collectively supporting Ukraine's ability to defend its territory, protect its citizens, and liberate their occupied areas in the face of a barbaric Russian invasion. Ukrainians remain resilient.

The nation of Ukraine is united for one single purpose to expel the Russian forces from their territory and to defend themselves. For Ukraine, this is not a war of aggression. It is a war of defense for Russia.

It is a war of aggression. The Russian military has paid tremendous costs in their war of aggression, and now they have resorted to sending conscripts and prisoners to imminent death. In recent months, the group.

Gathered here today pledged to provide significant quantities of battlefield capabilities tanks, air defense and munitions 11 countries have pledged tanks. 22 have pledged infantry fighting vehicles. 16 pledged artillery and munitions, and nine more.

Pledged air defense artillery. The group is focused focused on delivering the capabilities committed and efficiently, providing the training, the spare parts, the sustainment logistics necessary for the full employment of these systems. Training, maintaining and sustaining.

Ukraine's remains key for Ukraine. To prevail throughout this war. Ukraine has shown incredible resourcefulness in how they integrate very capabilities to adapt the changing dynamics of this battlefield.

Ukrainians have combined unbreakable will with innovative tactics and empower their leaders to liberate their own country. Russia, on contrast, is waging a very costly war of attrition, while Ukraine is effectively leveraging their asymmetric advantages.

In order to defend itself. And the most important asymmetric advantage they have is courage, resilience and tactical skill. This war is extremely dynamic, and Ukraine today is fighting while training and evolving.

Future operations. Ukraine will integrate recent commitments of armored vehicles infantry fighting vehicles and tanks with fires to achieve the effect of synchronized ground maneuver. While Russia has waged this war for far too long.

They will not outlast the Ukrainian people, nor the group of allies and partners that met today. The purpose for the United States and allies as said by our political leadership, is very simple. It's to uphold the rules.

Based international order in order that rejects the idea that big, strong powerful nations can attack other smaller countries, that borders shall not change just by the use of aggressive military force. This is the very underlying founding principle of the United Nations.

At the end of World War Two, Ukraine does not stand alone 54 countries met today to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself and the principles that guide international conduct. And those principles will be upheld. We will remain a unified coalition. We will continue to uphold the values.

Of sovereignty and freedom and will continue to support Ukraine. Thank you and I welcome your questions. Thank you both, gentlemen. Yutaka Abe, Secretary Austin, you said earlier this is a crucial moment for Ukraine and that the.

Allies need to get air defenses and munitions into Ukraine now. What are you seeing from Russia that makes this moment different? And the NATO's secretary general has already warned that Ukraine is burning through munitions faster than a rate.

That the allies can supply it. Will you at some point need to ask Ukraine to do more with less And then for Chairman Milley, did one of the missiles fired at the Lake Huron object, Miss. And if so, what happened to that missile? And if so, does that change your risk calculus for shooting down.

Objects over U.S. soil? Are you starting to develop alternatives? If, if and when you detect the next object so in terms of where we are, thanks to our terms of where we are in the fight, what we see, what we've seen over.

The last several months, is a contested battlefield. We see a lot of activity in in the mood area which is where Russia is is focusing most of its effort. We see Russia introducing a number of new troops to the battlefield. Many of those troops are ill trained.

And in and ill equipped. And so their casualty rate has been really high What Ukraine wants to do in the you know, at the first possible moment is to establish or create momentum and in and establish.

Conditions on the battlefield. That continue to be in its favor. And so we expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring. And because of that, we are we all the partners in the in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group have been working hard.

To ensure that they have the armored capability, the fires the sustainment, to be able to be effective in creating the effects on the battlefield that they want to create. And so.

We believe that there will be a window of opportunity for them to exercise our initiative and then change or continue to to create the right conditions on the battlefield or in terms of munitions.

This has been a tough fight throughout. And we've been. Ukraine has been at this for a year. And so they have used a lot of artillery ammunition. We're going to do everything we can working with our international partners to ensure that we give them as much.

Ammunition as quickly as as possible, and that we'll do everything we can to sustain our efforts there as well. We are working to with the Ukrainian soldiers in various places throughout Europe to emphasize additional training on maneuver.

So that as a place more emphasis on maneuver and in shaping the battlefield with fires and then maneuvering, there's a good chance that they'll require less less artillery munitions. But that's left to be seen. So we're going to do everything we can.

To make sure that they have what they need to be successful. And that's what we continue to emphasize here in the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group. And and we think the training will pay additional dividends as well.

So thank you for it. Floor. National News Agency of Ukraine. Mr. Oscar, go to Mr. Secretary Was the question of the plane supplies I mean, combat jet supplies to Ukraine was discussed or not? And what kind of security circumstance this should be created inside Ukraine.

To deploy a new type of aircraft of such kind? Does it mean that that is possible after the integrated air defense system is created? And to General Milley, if I may. What is your risk assessment for supply routes or for the delivery of Western equipment.

And ammunition to Ukraine and how it could be made more secured? Thank you. So on the issue of aircraft, I don't have any announcements to make on aircraft today. We're going to continue to work with Ukraine to address.

Ukraine's most pressing needs. Again, you know, they're contemplating an offensive in in the spring, and that's just weeks away. And so we have a lot to get done. So if you think about the numbers of systems.

That we're bringing together, Bradleys, Strykers, Martyrs, CB 90 113 artillery. And the list goes on and on. It's a monumental task to bring all those systems together, get the troops trained on those platforms,.

And make sure we have sustainment for that, for all of those systems and get those systems into the fight. So that's that's really the focus of our hour of our conversation today. So the metro lines of communication.

In warfare and combat are always subject to enemy attack. No, no, different here. And the lines of communication that stretched through the western portions of Ukraine are subject to Russian attack, attack from the air attack.

From artillery attack, from special operations forces, etc. So the key to ensure that the supplies get through, maintain good operational security, vary your times, don't set patterns. Take different routes and make sure you disperse your force so that you have small penny packets.

As opposed to one large, massive convoy. The security from the Polish border or any other border, Romanian border anywhere, that security is part of the security plan for the Ukrainian armed forces. They they pick this stuff up.

And they do that and they practice all the good tactics, techniques and procedures that I just described. I would say it's not without risk, but it's moderate and it's been successful so far to get through. Let's go to Felicia.

Schwartz, Financial Times Thank you. First for Secretary Austin, we've heard from Western officials that Russia's Air Force is well intact and that the Russians are preparing to launch an air campaign as its land.

Forces are depleted. Where is Russia amassing aircraft ahead of the offensive? How soon could this begin? Has this hastened the need to provide air defense to Ukraine and has enough assistance been provided.

So that Ukraine is ready to defend against it? And then for Chairman Milley, Does Russia have the right equipment to pose a threat to the Ukrainians and break through in the Donbass? And separately, but relatedly, is Ukraine.

Going to get enough equipment and enough time and have a big enough force on the ground to be able to have a serious counteroffensive? Thanks, Felicia. In terms of whether or not Russia is massing its aircraft for some massive aerial attack,.

We don't currently see that. We do know that Russia has a substantial number of aircraft in its inventory and a lot of capability left. That's why we've emphasized that we need to do everything that we can to get Ukraine as much air.

Defense capability as we possibly can. And recently, you've seen us step up and offer patriots. You've seen other countries come forward with some tea and in Irish tea, but it's not enough. And we're going to keep pushing until we we get more.

Because that threat is out there. But again, we many countries have stepped up to the plate thus far. Our effort currently is to get these capabilities into country as quickly as we can and then integrate those capabilities.

So we have truly have an integrated air and missile defense capability. And I would add that Ukraine has done a credible job of of intercepting a lot of the rockets and missiles that have been launched by by Russia in those recent attacks.

But again, we want to make sure that they have the ability to protect themselves going forward in the event that Russia tries to introduce its Air Force into this fight. They haven't done.

So thus far because Ukraine's air defenses have been pretty strong, effective, as you know. So foolish on on whether or not the Russians have the capability and equipment, etc. to continue the attack in the Donbas.

They are attacking in the Donbas right now. Their progress is slow. It's a war of attrition. They take heavy casualties. Their leadership and morale is not great. And they're struggling mightily. However, they do have numbers. And as you know,.

President Putin did a call up of several hundred thousand. And those folks have been arriving on the battlefield. So they do have numbers. And whether or not they're successful in suppressing the fight.

That remains to be seen. But that fight has been going on, and it's a slow, grinding battle of attrition in that in that general area. For the Ukrainians, I don't want to project forward what the Ukrainians may or may not do. As you know.

From this particular conference here, we are placing that up with a significant amount of capabilities with ground maneuver, artillery, etc.. What they do with that, that'll be up to the Ukrainians in the coming weeks and months.

We have time for one more. Let's go to Marcus Price. Early television Thank you very much. One question to Secretary Austan about the stance of the U.S. when it comes to delivery of fighter jets and the president Biden said no to the delivery of F-16.

Also early in the conflict when Poland offered to deliver MiG 29 via Rammstein to Ukraine. I think the U.S. stopped it. Has this position evolved? Do you encourage countries to do so if they want to, or do we assess the risk is too high? So what is the U.S.

Position on other countries delivering fighter jets and to Chairman Milley, the Russian offensive we are seeing? What do you see so far? Is this very serious? Is it different than what we saw in the past? And do you have any intelligence.

Whether we see and we are going to see another attempt of the Russian forces to capture Kiev? Thank you. Thanks, Marcus, for the record. With respect to any kind of aircraft being provided by Poland, the United States never stopped Poland from providing anything.

A decision to provide something is is. That's the you know, the decision made that there will be a decision made by the leadership of that country. That's certainly not something that we can or will dictate.

In terms of whether or not we're going to provide F-16s. As I said earlier, I don't have any announcements to make and I don't have anything to add to what our president said earlier. So I'll just leave it at that. And Marcus, on the issue of the.

Russian offensive, this this offensive that you see ongoing right now in the generally in the Bachmann area, you know, from from Kharkiv, all the way down to Curtis on the front line is quite stable, even though very violent and a lot of fighting.

It's relatively stable. Most of the dynamic movement back and forth is in generally in the vicinity of buck mode. The Ukrainians are holding they're fighting the defense, the Russians primarily involved in the group.

Or attacking parties. What I would describe it as is a really a very significant grinding battle of attrition with very high casualties, especially on the Russian side. There's no fancy arts of maneuver going on here.

This is frontal attacks, wave attacks, lots of artillery with extremely high levels of casualties. In that particular area. And how long that will last is difficult to say, actually. It's been going on for weeks, and I think it'll continue to go on until the until the either.

The Russians culminate. I don't think the Ukrainians will just collapse or fall. I think they're going to continue to fight. So that that's a battle worth the but with that, we're paying attention to very, very closely and making sure that the Ukrainians.

Have the capability to continue to defend as far as Kyiv. I'm not going to what intelligence we have or don't have. I would just say that right now there's always a potential threat. There's clearly air threats, missile attack threats. Kyiv is the capital.

And that was a significant objective early in the war. So I would never discount Russian capabilities to attack you. But right now, we're not seeing any significant indicators and warnings.

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