General Ben Hodges: ‘The US does not aim for Ukraine to win’
He stressed that there is no reason why Ukraine cannot use Western weapons to strike deep into Russia, except for the Biden administration's fear of escalation
The United States does not help Ukraine win and does not set Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia as a goal.
This was stated in an interview with the Kyiv Post by retired US general and former US Army commander Ben Hodges.
He welcomed the statements made at the NATO summit in Washington regarding the irreversibility of Ukraine's path to NATO, the provision of new air defence equipment to Ukraine, and the opening of the centre in Wiesbaden, but stressed that this was not enough.
When asked why the White House has not made a decision that would bring Ukraine's victory closer, the US general said that the excessive fear of Russia's use of nuclear weapons is an obstacle to this.
‘It is clear that the White House has not only not made this decision, it is not even a goal of the White House, they just don't want it. Of course, everybody would love it if Russia just gave up and went home, without chaos in Russia itself, but they are not prepared to do what is necessary to achieve this goal. I think there's an overwhelming fear that Russia is going to use nuclear weapons somewhere,’ says Ben Hodges.
The retired general emphasises that the defeat of Russia is in the strategic interests of the United States, and Ukraine is ready to ‘do the work’.
‘They just need weapons and a commitment from us,’ says Hodges.
The general cites historical evidence against the likelihood of nuclear war and nuclear risks, which, in his opinion, may influence the willingness to lift all restrictions on the use of Western weapons from Ukraine.
‘Why are we so convinced that when Russia starts losing, they will use nuclear weapons? They did not use it two years ago, when Ukrainians had a tremendous success in liberating Kharkiv and Kherson, when they rejected the Russians, and this was the only thing that stopped Ukrainians from moving forward,’ the retired general said.
According to Ben Hodges, there is no legal, moral or operational reason why Ukraine is restricted from using Western weapons to strike deep into Russia. Hodges reiterates the US administration's excessive fear of Russian escalation.
‘Whoever developed this policy, not only does it make no sense from a military standpoint, it also demonstrates a lack of strategy, a lack of strategic objective that we're trying to achieve. You can't develop a good policy if you don't have a goal,’ Hodges said.
It is known that the United States has limited the choice of targets for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, allowing Ukraine to use American weapons only inside Ukrainian territory and in Russia near the border.
Background. As a reminder, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he wanted permission from the British government to retaliate with Western weapons on Russian territory without any range restrictions. ‘We just want to respond exactly at the point from which they are shooting at us,’ the president said.
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