A14 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, MAY 8 , 2022
war in ukrainewho said late last month that
Ukraine “can win” the war against
Russia, and the Biden administra-
tion would do “everything we can”
to support that goal, sounded less
bullish in congressional testimony
this past week.
“We hope that, at the end of
this, that Ukraine will be a...
sovereign state with a functioning
government that can protect its
territory,” Austin told the Senate
Appropriations Committee. Aus-
tin and other senior officials, how-
ever, have declined to specify their
idea of what that government will
look like, and what territory it will
include.
Whatever outcome it would
eventually like to see, the adminis-
tration has quickly walked back
statements that went beyond the
bounds of an end to the war with a
sovereign Ukraine still in exis-
tence. When President Biden said
in late March that Russian Presi-
dent Vladimir Putin “cannot re-
main in power,” he and the White
House rushed to explain it as a
presidential expression of “moral
outrage” rather than a policy of
regime change in Moscow.
When Austin drew attention
last month by saying the United
States sought a “weakened” Rus-
sia, administration officials quick-
ly added that the goal was specific
to military conflict, and was to
ensure Putin would think twice
about invading another country.
Ukrainians themselves have
been clear about their definition
of winning. Their goal, President
Volodymyr Zelensky has said re-
peatedly, is restoration of full ter-
ritorial integrity, pushing the Rus-
sians back from recently claimed
territory in the south and east, as
well as ultimately from Crimea,
annexed by Moscow in 2014, and
parts of the eastern Donbas region
UKRAINE FROM A
Definition
of victory is
murky as
war goes on
that was grabbed by Russia-
backed Ukrainian separatists at
the same time.
“I was elected as president of
Ukraine. Not as president of mini-
Ukraine,” Zelensky said in re-
marks to the Chatham House
think tank in London on Friday,
“What matters is Ukraine’s victo-
ry,” he said, “and by Ukraine’s
victory I mean something that
belongs to us.”
Serious negotiations with Rus-
sia would only begin when Mos-
cow pulls its troops back, or they
are pushed from territory occu-
pied since the invasion began
Feb. 24. He also listed the return of
refugees, Ukraine’s admission tothe European Union, and the
prosecution of Russian military
leaders for war crimes as elements
of any postwar landscape.
“I think we shouldn’t underes-
timate the view of the Ukrainian
people, which is never to accept
anything” a European diplomat
said. Even if direct Russia-
Ukraine negotiations, now in
abeyance, resume, “there is no
way politically Zelensky can settle
with the Russians” unless it in-
cludes the broad elements the
Ukrainian president has articu-
lated. The diplomat was one of
several U.S. and foreign officials
who spoke on the condition of
anonymity to discuss internal cal-culations.
Within NATO, some have out-
lined more definitive goals than
others. In a rousing video speech
on Tuesday to the Ukrainian par-
liament, British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson moved beyond
Austin’s possibility of victory, as-
suring that “Ukraine will win.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz
Truss has been even more specific.
Britain was “doubling down” on
its aid to Ukraine, she said last
week at the Mansion House, an
annual London venue for delivery
of a major foreign policy address.
Calling Russian forces a “cancer-
ous growth,” she said “we will keep
going further and faster to pushRussia out of the whole of
Ukraine,” including Crimea and
Donbas.
Ukraine’s combat success so far
has surprised and heartened the
administration. Before the war
began, the administration re-
leased an unprecedented amount
of classified information indicat-
ing that amassed Russian forces
would invade. But it did not reveal
the expectation of the U.S. intelli-
gence community that Ukraine
would fall in short order — with
Kyiv succumbing within three to
four days — according to a person
familiar with the matter.
NATO unity and a rapid re-
sponse, with U.S. and allies rush-ing troops to NATO’s eastern bor-
der and weapons to Ukraine, were
gratifying, even more so when
Ukrainian forces not only held
Kyiv but drove the Russians out of
the north.
The current phase of the fight is
likely to be much harder and more
protracted. Russia, in apparent
retreat from its initial objective of
taking most, if not all, of Ukraini-
an territory, has massed its forces
in the eastern part of the country
along a line parallel to its own
border. There, its existing control
of significant territory will likely
temper the logistical problems it
suffered around Kyiv. In the
southeast, Russian forces areMATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Iryna Tomaieva, left, gathers with others outside the White House on Feb. 27 to show their support for Ukraine and urge President Biden to do more against Russia.CaseDesign.com |844.831.The CaseStudy®Since our first renovation over 60 years ago we’ve been a teamof visionaries, but we recognize that some things should beconsistent every time. Our unique approach to the remodelingprocess is tried and true. It’s so effective that we had to give it aname: The CaseStudy®. We guide you through every step, using3D renderings to bring new possibilities to light. At every phase ofour work, we’ll maintain strict attention to time and budget. Don’tforget our 5-year warranty. Because you are our highest priority.Visit our website to set a virtual appointment or to learn more.MD MHIC #1176 | VA # 2701039723 | DC #Our commitment to providing a safe, healthy,
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