In an article on the website of the journal Foreign Affairs , CIA Director Bill Burns stated that Ukraine could face a difficult year confronting Russia in 2024.
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| CIA Director Bill Burns. (Source: AP) |
Reuters quoted his article as noting: "This year could be a difficult year on the ground in Ukraine. A U.S. withdrawal from the conflict at this critical time and cutting off support for Ukraine would be a historic own goal."
The head of the CIA stated that aid to Ukraine accounts for less than 5% of the US defense budget and is "a relatively modest investment compared to the significant geopolitical benefits and industrial profits that the US gains."
Meanwhile, if any serious negotiation opportunities arise to end the conflict, providing weapons to Ukraine would put the country in a stronger negotiating position.
According to Burns, one of Ukraine's challenges "is not just making progress on the front lines, but also by launching deeper offensives from the rear and gaining steady ground in the Black Sea."
CIA Director Bill Burns is the latest senior U.S. official to publicly endorse continued support for Ukraine, amid ongoing congressional struggles to reach a southern border agreement to resolve the migrant crisis, which continues to block a $60 billion aid package for Kyiv.
In a development related to the conflict in Ukraine, on January 30, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced significant successes of its air defense systems in the past 24 hours.
Accordingly, Russian air defense forces shot down 86 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 12 multiple rocket launchers, including Uragan and HIMARS missiles, and destroyed a US-made JDAM guided bomb.
The UAVs were shot down in various areas, including Zolotarevka, Popasnaya, Kremennaya in Lugansk province, Verkhnekamenskoye, Yampolovka in Donetsk province, as well as in Ocheretovaty, Shevchenkovo, Mirny, Konstantinovka, Lyubimovka in Zaporozhye province and Korsunka in Kherson province.
The statement said that since the start of the special military operation, the Russian army has destroyed 568 Ukrainian military aircraft, 265 helicopters, 11,431 UAVs, 456 anti-aircraft missile systems, 14,847 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,211 multiple rocket launchers, 7,902 field artillery pieces and mortars, as well as 18,042 military vehicles.
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