After a winter of heavy but indecisive fighting, Ukraine is preparing

for

a long-promised spring offensive that officials hope will change course

the are

was against Russia

s invasion

.

The aim is to break Russia’s grip on southern and eastern Ukraine and convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that his war has become a lost cause.

US officials say i

f Ukraine succeeds,

US officials say they believe

Putin could eventually agree to peace talks on terms acceptable to Ukraine. But if Ukraine fails, the conflict is likely to degenerate into a long war of attrition

in that scenario,

Putin has made this known

in that scenario,

time is on Russia’s side.

It was

So

has a western front

Oh yeah

in the domestic politics of the United States and its European allies, who have given Ukraine the military and economic aid it needs to survive.

If Ukraine succeeds, its Western supporters will feel justified. If

itUkraine

if short, political support in the West will erode.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not the only leader racing against time;

,;

President Biden too.

From a military point of view, the longer you wait

do it

[launch the offensive]The harder it will be, Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at the Center for Naval Analyses, said last month. The more time spent, the more Russian units can entrench.

Politically, time is not on Biden’s side either. Public opinion in the United States and Europe has largely supported Ukraine, but support has weakened as the war has become longer and more costly.

Bi

i.e

and has repeatedly promised that the United States will support Ukraine

for

as long as it takes to defeat Russia. But that’s a promise he may not be able to keep

indefinitely

other

not if he loses his expected re-election bid next year.

[I get back to this issue several grafs down.] Experts say

Ukraine’s military offensive may still be

multiple

weeks away

say military experts

. Much of the country is stuck

are

spring thaw, turning fields and rural roads into a sea of ​​muddy terrain, even for armored vehicles.

Ukrainian Armed Forces, b B

supplemented by new tanks and armored troopships supplied by the West,

Ukraine Ukrainian troops

will try to dislodge Russian

forces troops

of the

our countries

south

serious

and east

er parts of the country

.

A likely target will be the Russian-occupied southeast coast

rural bridge

connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which Putin captured from Ukraine in 2014.

country

Bridge “would have a dramatic impact on Russian morale and motivation,” said Douglas Lute, a retired Army lieutenant general who served as the US ambassador to NATO.

Some of the Western equipment Ukraine counts on is only now arriving: heavy tanks from Germany and Britain

together with

armored fighting vehicles of the U.

nuanced

S

did

other

half aa half-

dozens of other countries.

The U.

nuanced

S

did

and the European Union is sending thousands of artillery ammunition from new

–

mobilized munitions factories. And the u

nuanced

S

did

delivers a new surface-to-surface missile, the Clumsy

–

called Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb, with a range about 90 miles longer than the

range of

Missiles Ukraine has now but still

of

only helped

the range of another country has that missile Ukraine

requested.

that is

Calm

not enough, critics complain.

“We delivered the systems they needed six months ago,” Lute said. War is not a mathematical equation. You have to vomit.

“Now is the time to give Ukraine what they need to avoid the political calendar next year,” he added.

In fact, the American political calendar has already begun.

Former president

Donald

Trump has complained that US taxpayers are giving Ukraine too much aid and suggested he end the war within 24 hours by allowing Putin to take over.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis agreed, saying it was not in

our US

interest in getting further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia.

A poll sponsored by the Associated Press found the share of Americans supporting military aid to Ukraine fell to 48% in February

down

up from 60% last May. Responses reflected a partisan divide, with Republicans increasingly opposing Biden’s policies.

The result of the spring offensive

is wanting

probably

to proceed to

influence public opinion

further

.

If this becomes a dragging war with no end in sight, it will be a lot harder to maintain Western support, Steven noted

A? his middle name appears to be Karl

Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine.

Putin’s calculation is that he can survive both Ukraine and the West, and the longer the war goes on, the more

injury

Ukraine will suffer, and the more weary Western voters will be.

Therefore, it is vital that the U.

nuanced

S

did

and his allies

give get

Ukraine as much help as possible now, when it is most useful.

Yes, the war has cost a lot

much more

for Ukrainians, who have lost lives and homes,

much more

than

for

American taxpayers.

But the best chance to end it early and avoid a long and

even

a more punitive stalemate is to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to convince Putin that he cannot win.