As a percentage of gross domestic product, more than a dozen Contact Group members now provide more security assistance to Ukraine than the United States. These investments in Ukraine are paying dividends at home, strengthening our defense industrial base and creating good jobs. Putin’s aggressive behavior even triggered the outcome he had been trying to prevent: NATO is now bigger, stronger and more united than ever before.
As a result, Ukraine has resisted the world’s second-largest military power—despite Putin’s reckless escalation and irresponsible wielding of the nuclear sword. Ukraine’s performance comes despite support for Putin from China, the world’s second-largest economy. Iran, the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, armed him with missiles and drones; North Korea, the world’s most notorious nuclear-armed rogue state, supplied him with ammunition and some 10,000 troops.
Ukraine’s success to date is a huge strategic achievement, but its military still faces profound challenges on the battlefield. Russian forces have recently recaptured parts of Ukraine that they liberated earlier in the war, and Putin’s bombing of Ukrainian power plants and other critical infrastructure has taken a heavy toll. The Ukrainian people showed great resistance, but they also paid a heavy price for their freedom.
Still, Ukraine’s fragility should not overshadow Putin’s own growing predicament.
The United States and its partners have been sending more military aid to Ukraine in recent months, including hundreds of thousands more artillery rounds, anti-aircraft missiles, more armored vehicles and more air-to-ground munitions, to help weaken Russia’s military capabilities. Human advantage. We allow Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles within Russia to help Ukraine defend itself in the event of North Korea’s intervention in the war. Throughout the conflict, as battlefield conditions changed and our inventory and readiness requirements allowed, we increased assistance at a rate that the Ukrainian military could absorb, tying each donation to training and sustainment.
But Russia suffered huge losses from seizing a small swath of territory—an average of 1,500 casualties per day. Since Putin launched the war, Russia has caused more than 700,000 casualties. Now, he increasingly faces a painful dilemma: either suffer huge casualties for minimal gains, perhaps ordering mobilization and triggering domestic instability, or seriously negotiate with Ukraine to end the war.
