The United States of America and Ukraine are increasingly disillusioned with each other and at odds over their differing views on waging war with the aggressor state of russia.
The New York Times writes about this on Friday, March 8.
For the Pentagon, the irritation boils down to one recurring problem: American military strategists, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, believe Ukraine needs to focus its forces on one big battle at a time. Instead, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spends the army on battles for cities that, according to US officials, have no strategic value.
The publication cites the example of Avdiyivka, Donetsk Region, which was captured by the russian federation in February. American officials say that Ukraine has defended this city "for too long and at great cost."
"Even now, several months after the counteroffensive, which failed due to the fact that Ukraine, in the eyes of the Pentagon, did not listen to its advice, Kyiv still too often does not want to listen," the article says.
The disagreements over Avdiyivka reflected Washington's frustration with the Ukrainian counteroffensive last summer. Austin and other US officials urged Ukraine to focus the attack on one main effort along the front line and press for a breakthrough of russian fortifications. The US representatives believed that General Zaluzhnyi agreed with the American advice, but could not convince Zelenskyy: "So instead of a single decisive battle, Kyiv split its troops, sending part to the east, part to other fronts, including to the south," the NYT writes.
In the Pentagon, some officials say that they do not consider Ukraine's actions in 2023 a counteroffensive at all and call them a "failure."
"We say in the military, when you aim to attack everywhere, you may end up attacking nowhere because your forces are spread out. The Pentagon considers this a mistake and will continue to advise the Ukrainians in this direction," said James Stavridis, a retired admiral and former supreme commander of the joint armed forces of NATO in Europe.
For its part, Ukraine blames the US and "American political paralysis" for the lack of ammunition for the troops at the front. Because of this, the Ukrainian military is forced to redistribute shells, which lowers the morale of the army.
At the same time, the commitment of Ukraine and the USA remains unchanged, as each side needs the other. Perhaps the biggest advantage for the Biden administration is that Ukraine is draining the army of one of America's biggest enemies, experts say.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 2, US President Joe Biden said that the international order would change for the next 50 years if Ukraine loses the war with russia.
The USA also has no doubt that Ukraine can achieve victories on the battlefield.
In addition, the Biden administration is considering using about USD 200 million from the US military budget to provide immediate support to Ukraine.
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