Many see William Burns as a ‘harbinger of bad news’.
American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Kiev yesterday (20) and announced 100 million military aid. While the amount is still a lot of money, it’s way less than the 65 billion that President Joe Biden is trying – and failing – to approve in Congress.
But the visit of an US official that interests us here now is the – almost – secret visit made by CIA Director William Burns, who last week, we can now confirm, traveled to Ukraine’s capital to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
An experienced former Ambassador, including to Russia, Burns has been engaged in ‘shadow diplomacy’ on behalf of Biden in many parts of the world, and there is a widespread notion that a visit by the CIA head is NOT good news.
But let’s start with an MSM view of the matter, as Reuters reported, based on a US official source:
“‘Director Burns traveled to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian intelligence counterparts as well as President Zelensky and reinforced our continued support for Ukraine and its defense against Russian aggression’, the U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said.”
The official heard by Reuters declined to say when the visit took place, but some vehicles, who has broken the story last week – and we will discuss below – have said it took place on November 15th.
But what was the objective of the trip? According to the Reuters source:
“Burns briefed Zelensky on his expectations on Russia’s upcoming military plans, the newspaper said, adding he also acknowledged that at some point U.S. assistance would be harder to come by.
Zelensky and his senior intelligence officials discussed how long Ukraine could expect U.S. and Western assistance to continue after Republicans won a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections, the Washington Post reported, citing sources.”
So, there is no getting around the point that the slowing down or stopping of the US military aid to Kiev was in the agenda of the visit.
Pro-Russian analyst and news aggregator Simplicius the Thinker, back on the 16th, wrote on his Substack that ‘the obviously logical explanation [is] that the purpose of the urgent visit is to convince Zelensky to freeze the conflict.’
Any suggestion of this kind means asking Zelensky to ‘commit political suicide, because a truce and a freeze mean the complete and final collapse of his career’.
“If the President of Ukraine agrees, there will be a carrot waiting for him: an honorary pension in Europe or the USA. If he refuses, they will use the whip: the Biden administration will turn on the spigot of military and financial assistance.”
However, the ultimate goal is to keep Ukraine as a torn on Russia’s side.
“Any American administration – Biden, Trump or the bald devil – will never give up such a bridgehead on the borders of Russia, which is today’s Ukraine. Its appearance is a great foreign policy success for the US. And Washington will fight to preserve it.”
Asia Times also reported on it back when it happened, saying that November 15th was ‘Z-Day for the War in Ukraine’.
The paper says that the reason for the visit is that ‘Ukraine is imploding’.
“Zelensky is setting the stage to have Ukrainian General Valerii Zaluzhny arrested and purged. He’s likely to prepare the ground by firing three generals tied to Zaluzhny. (Zaluzhny’s top aide has already died in what’s described as an accident.)”
The situation is due to the success of Russia’s ‘attrition war’, that relies on overwhelming firepower to slowly degrade the enemy’s capabilities until they can’t fight anymore.
This strategy had been countered by the massive military aid by US and Europe, but now it’s over.
“Ukraine has gone through three armies, and most of the current army is made up of older men, some women, and boys with no training. They become bodies to fill the foxholes and revetments trying to hold up the Russians. Russia itself is in no particular hurry. The Russian strategy is to bleed-down Ukraine’s armed forces and create a political crisis in Kiev. The Russian effort is ahead of schedule, which has surprised Moscow as much as Washington.”
Parte superior do formulário
General Zaluzhny made clear in his writings that Ukraine’s war needs a ceasefire, but Zelensky opposes any pause in the fighting, wants his army to hold onto key territories – such as Avdiivka – and insists to retake important cities including Bakhmut.
“Meanwhile, Zelensky’s political opponents are well aware of the corruption in Kiev and are saying so. It is anyone’s guess whether that information gets to Congress, but it may.
Burns won’t be suggesting Zelensky talk to the Russians or even change his tune on demanding that Russian forces leave Ukraine. Burns can’t go against Washington’s policy, which is to drag out the Ukraine war until Biden is reelected.”
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