Alex Raufoglu
WASHINGTON DC – Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who commanded US and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Monday that a ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely until Western aid allows Kyiv to dramatically shift the battlefield dynamic.His comments came as President Donald Trump announced a drastically shortened deadline for Russia to agree to a truce. Speaking at a Hudson Institute event in Washington DC, Petraeus, also a former CIA director, emphasized that Ukraine needs substantial assistance to make Russian President Vladimir Putin realize he cannot achieve further gains at an acceptable cost.
“I don’t foresee a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine until the US, European and other Western countries provide so much assistance to Ukraine that they can change the dynamic on the battlefield,” said Petraeus, now a chairman of the KKR Global Institute.He pointed to Putin’s high tolerance for casualties, noting Russia has sustained “one million killed and wounded,” with more than 500,000 unable to return to the front lines.
“That’s the kind of cost he’s been willing to bear. So you would have to do something very dramatic. You have to stop them cold on the battlefield,” he said.Petraeus, reflecting on his own experiences writing condolence letters during his combat commands, expressed difficulty comprehending the scale of losses in Ukraine. He also suggested that Russian commanders, such as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late leader of the Wagner mercenary group, may have become “somewhat crazed” from witnessing so many deaths.
For Putin to consider a realistic settlement, Petraeus said, Ukraine must be able to “stop them cold, perhaps even push them back a bit.”He dismissed Russia’s current demands – including the replacement of President Volodymyr Zelensky, the demilitarization of Ukraine, and a ban on NATO membership – as “obviously unacceptable to President Zelensky and really to the Ukrainian people.”Meanwhile, President Trump on Monday dramatically tightened his deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, reducing it to less than two weeks from the 50 days he initially announced.
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