I agree with @AKorybko that the US has changed strategy in Ukraine from an offensive to defensive strategy. In comparison with last years offensive strategy that’s of course a de faco admission of defeat, but the US will just change its definition of victory, and claim victory in all cases that doesn’t end with a total Russian victory. Why does the war continue then? Korybko claims that the main reasons are to feed the military industrial complex and test weapons in war time conditions.

I believe those reasons are only a part of the answer. Another important reason are that western leaders have invested so much political capital into the war, so they can’t back down gracefully, at least not too quickly. They have to prolong the war to change the narrative in western countries or loose power. With newly elected leaders, especially in the US, they can gracefully backdown from the war effort.

Some other reasons for western leaders to prolong the war, are that they hope to inflict huge losses on Russia, by Ukraine as proxy. The US also can’t abandon an allied country too fast. That would undermine the US alliance system around the world. No one trust someone who promise to defend you and then quickly abandons those promises.

Vir: Mikael Valtersson

* Former officer Swedish Armed Forces/Air Defence, former defence politician and chief of staff Sweden Democrats. Current political and military analyst.