Former NATO commander says war in Ukraine 'a long way from being over'
Former NATO Supreme Allied Cmdr. Wesley Clark said on Sunday that the war in Ukraine is “a long way from being over.”
“[The] war’s a long way from being over,” Clark told NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday.” “It's [hard] to look at Russia through Russian eyes. Most of us look at Russia, we say, ‘The economy’s in trouble, forces aren't going very far very fast, they’re taking a lot of casualties.’”
“But, you have to look at Russia through Russian history, Russian culture and Russian current mechanisms. Putin’s building a war machine. Military industrial complex in Russia going 24/7, getting a lot of support from China, Iran, North Korea. He hasn't really tapped all of his manpower reserves. He's trying to do this on the cheap,” he added.
The comments from Clark come in the wake of a fiery Oval Office meeting between President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vice President Vance on Friday, which featured shouting and finger-pointing as the president and Zelensky argued over U.S. support for Ukraine.
Following the meeting, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the Ukrainian president “is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
Trump has been pushing for an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, with U.S. and Russian officials meeting in Saudi Arabia last month.
In his “The Hill Sunday” appearance, Clark said that Putin is “in a very strong bargaining position.”
“But Chris, the other thing is, so is Ukraine. This incident in the White House, it resulted in support for Zelensky and Ukraine from Europe and from the people in Ukraine,” Clark added. “They're not about to surrender Ukraine to Russia.”
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