Putin’s offensive is ‘dead’ | Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges

Putin’s offensive is ‘dead’ | Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges

there’s nothing they can do they do not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the war now they’re going to continue losing a th000 soldiers a day uh because they don’t care about their own casualties but I don’t think that this is endless I mean even their mower is not endless and certainly their industry even if we don’t get serious about sanctions and about cutting off their ability to ship oil um I don’t know that they can go another two years former Commanding General Ben hoders thank you for joining me on times radio I want to begin with Joe Biden’s announcement of more air defenses going to Ukraine what do you make of this well obviously uh this addresses a a requirement that Ukraine has to protect innocent people protect infrastructure from Russian missiles and Rockets Glide bombs that are being used against them every day so there’s a real need and this is important the problem is it only addresses part of the problem um it is much more effective to kill the Archer instead of trying to intercept all the arrows so this Aid package helps intercept more of the arrows but it does nothing to kill the Archer uh the fact that the administration still has leaving in place this Dreadful uh policy that Ukraine cannot attack Russian bases inside Russia uh with the attacks for example is uh in effect gives Russia Sanctuary to launch this attacks against Ukrainian cities so yes obviously I’m glad to see more Patriot and N Sams but it really is uh underwhelming do you think that the US policy on Ukraine not being able to use their weapons in those areas do you see that shifting at all well you know of course uh the spokesman John Kirby was asked same day will this lead to a policy change and uh and he said no so um I mean I don’t know what else it’s going to take for the White House to get serious about helping Ukraine defeat Russia and of course within 24 hours of this attack you’ve got Prime Minister Modi of India is seen in Moscow embracing Vladimir Putin so uh Putin sees that we are not going to do everything that’s needed he’s still has his primary customer for gas India showing up there at Moscow um so until we get serious about helping Ukraine defeat Russia then we’re going to continue to have to deal with I say we ukrainians are going to continue to get pounded by Russian missiles and glide bombs we’ve also had talks that Ukraine’s path to Nato in terms of membership is irreversible potentially allies are expected to declare this at the summit what’s the likelihood of thought do you think well unfortunately um I I wish it was irreversible but it’s also seems to be uh not moving either I mean around around the summit here you see you hear different people saying things doing what they can to provide some sort of a um token of something to Ukraine but none of it feels like irreversible inevitable yet um because the United States and Germany in particular still block it uh and I think this is because we the US and Germany have an excessive fear that Russia might use a nuclear weapon that’s that’s our problem um so until we can get over that um psychological uh excessive fear I think I don’t I don’t see it changing uh for the better unfortunately if NATO cannot give Ukraine membership now what assurances can NATO give Ukraine and potentially strike a diplomatic blow to Putin well of course there is no guarantee other than NATO membership that’s the only security G real guarantee um I mean we had the budapes memorandum that obviously was empty commitment so I I don’t have any confidence that other commitments would be more subst stantive at least not from the United States um I do have some confidence that there is enough countries that recognize the importance of of that Ukraine cannot fail that Ukraine needs to win so there will be countries that will do things to help um they all recognize that Ukraine failure is a catastrophe for the rest of Europe if if Ukraine fails Millions more Ukrainian refugees will pour into Poland and Germany uh continued disruption of food and energy supplies and um tens of thousands tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers will be absorbed into Russian forces forced into service so you’ll grow the capability of the Russian military significantly this is a real threat uh for the rest for the rest of Europe so I think European countries are waking up to this and that if the US fails whether it’s because it’s a new Administration or for whatever reason we don’t do what needs to be done the threat doesn’t decrease the threat goes up for the rest of of Europe do you think that there’s a potential turning point at which it becomes too late well I mean it it we failed the collective we failed um over the past 20 years 16 years because we did nothing after 2008 when uh Russia invaded Georgia we did nothing after they jumped over President Obama’s Red Line in Syria we did nothing after they invaded Ukraine in 2014 and uh and you can uh see why the Russians were thinking in 2021 early 2022 the US was chaos with our January 6 Fiasco the uh terrible withdrawal from Afghanistan Germany’s still building North stream 2 president mron said NATO was brain dead I mean you could uh imagine that the Kremlin was thinking let’s go ahead and finish the job so in in this regard it’s too late this war happened because deter failed but it is never too late to get it back to for the West to realize that not only is it important for Ukraine it’s in our interest our economic Prosperity depends on Europe’s economic Prosperity that depends on stability and security and of course if we help Ukraine defeat Russia first as a priority that will isolate Iran that will isolate North Korea and that will deter China because then the Chinese will see that the West has the political will has the industrial capacity and the military capability to help Ukraine defeat beat Russia they will think twice I think in the Indo in the Indo Pacific region if we fail then I think the risk of China making a terrible decision goes up looking here to the Future we’ve got the US election coming up we’re already hearing talks among Democrats about the future of Joe Biden as president and then also we got Donald Trump in the mix as well how do you think you know the situation that we’re in the moment paints a picture for the fure future of the US in relation to Nato well you know uh when when Mr Trump was President last time that was the first time in my life I had ever heard an American president question our commitment to Nato so I think uh I I worry and I imagine the other 31 heads of state and government uh that are here at this Summit are thinking Will trump will will we have more of the same when he if if he’s elected uh the fact that that’s even a question is a gift to the Kremlin because the the secret sauce of NATO has always been this unbreakable unshakable unquestionable commitment of all the nations to each other especially the United States so in my view this raises the risk of Russia or somebody else making a terrible miscalculation about whether or not we’re committed so that’s why this is a big deal this is not just you know uh diplomatic speak you know talking about the unity of the alliance this is about deterrence that’s the most important uh ingredient for Effective deterence um now could be that uh if there’s a president Trump again that um uh he will recognize or he’ll be convinced that it is in America’s interest it’s in our best interest that NATO is strong uh and that we help Ukraine defeat Russia because that would deter China so because he’s all about transactions and Deals and and uh yeah he he doesn’t he doesn’t care for he’s demonstrated at least in the past he’s not a fan of supranational organizations U if he could be convinced that all the things that he cares about would be uh enabled by a strong NATO then I think it’s not inevitable that he would try to you know diminish American participation or uh uh commitment now um of course our allies could take a huge step by doing what they said they would do which is invest in their own defense I mean it’s great that at least 23 countries now um are at the 2% have met their obligation there that means nine haven’t it’s unbelievable and so you can imagine why a lot of people in the United States are like what is going on here I mean uh so take take that argument off the table by doing what you committed to do let’s talk about what’s going on on the ground in Ukraine what’s your current analysis of Russia’s offensive what would you say is the situation then well it’s it’s dead I mean there there’s nothing they can do they do do not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the war now they’re going to continue losing a thousand soldiers a day uh because they don’t care about their own casualties but I don’t think that this is endless I mean even their Manpower is not endless and certainly their industry even if we don’t get serious about sanctions and about cutting off their ability to ship oil um I don’t know that they can go another two years like this both from a labor standpoint uh components that they need um and so if we got serious about the economic tools their their ability to continue doing this would be severely uh curtailed so I think that Russia is doing what they can right now waiting for us to quit hoping that a trump Administration will make things their life easier um hoping that ukrainians will finally quit that’s I think that’s the best they can do right now how long do you think it’s going to take until Putin is at breaking point I think that depends on the people closest to him and and around him um I mean at some point because he doesn’t have to answer to the Duma he doesn’t have to answer to tough journalists uh asking him questions uh he doesn’t have to answer to the voters um he only has to answer to the people who keep him in power so we’re basically talking about the oligarchs you know in the in the inner uh sanctum if you will of the Kremlin um when they when they realize there’s no way that Russia’s going to win that they’re driving that Putin’s driving them off the cliff then I think they get rid of him uh but right now he has no reason to think that he’s going to lose the day he realizes he’s going to lose I think that’s the day when we this thing starts to end what is your current assessment of Putin’s mental state at the moment I think he uh I know a lot of people the more qualified to me have done analysis of you know what’s going on there I think I think he’s very intelligent I think he’s evil ruthless does not care about anything except staying in power so uh he gets the best health care of anybody in the Russian Federation um what do you see him do next if President Biden is reelected then I think that will affect they’ll uh have a different calculus maybe um of course you know they’re going to continue doing what they’re doing now sabotage in our countries because they see we’re not doing anything continue GPS jamming of airplanes and ships continue uh disinformation causing us to lose trust in our own institutions so that I mean they’re at war with us right now we need to realize that um so I think as long as he’s not suffering any consequen and he’s not he’s not suffering any consequences for a single thing he’s done I mean he doesn’t get invited to the the G8 anymore you know I mean but actually he’s not suffering any consequences

“Russia does not have the ability to knock Ukraine out of the water.”

Live from the Nato Summit in Washington DC, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges reacts to Biden’s announcement of air defences to Ukraine.

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