(WatchDogReport.org) – President Joe Biden said during a July 13 press conference in Helsinki after the NATO summit in Lithuania that Russia has “already lost the war” in Ukraine. The US commander-in-chief made this comment along with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, following a question from Wall Street Journal reporter Andrew Restuccia. The journalist asked him if his past comments could motivate Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue the war and discourage peace negotiations.
Following President Biden’s answer, Restuccia then asked if there was a serious risk that the war in Ukraine could last for years. The commander-in-chief said that no matter how long the war lasted, Ukraine wouldn’t enter NATO until the end of this armed conflict. He then reiterated that it didn’t make any sense to believe this could affect Putin’s behavior and actions as he “already lost the war.” President Biden then explained that the Russian leader has a “real problem” as he doesn’t know how to “move from here,” adding he has no chance of “winning the war.”
When pressed about the risk of a stalemate, President Biden told Restuccia he didn’t think the war in Ukraine can “go on for years” for two different reasons. He said that the first one was that Russia doesn’t have the proper “resources and capacity” to maintain the armed conflict “forever.” He then said that the second reason is that Putin will eventually have to calculate if it’s not in Russia’s economic and political interest to “continue this war.”
The president explained that while he can’t predict how all will turn out, he hopes that Ukrainian troops make “significant progress” in their counteroffensive. He said that he and his administration hope this could eventually lead to a “negotiated settlement” as soon as possible.
Over the last few weeks, President Biden has been in different diplomatic meetings related to NATO. While the main meetings have been related to Ukraine, some other ones involved Sweden’s membership in the alliance.
Copyright 2023, WatchDogReport.org
