Scott Ritter: Zelensky in Dire Straits as Ukraine Won't Get Operational Pause in Winter

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly cancelled his appearance via video-link at a secret US Senate briefing. What does the last minute hiccup say about the situation in Ukraine's power circles?

It was expected that Zelensky would inform American congressmen about the latest developments on the ground in Ukraine and urge them to disburse over $60 billion for Ukraine.

On the same day, the upper chamber failed to vote on a Ukraine aid bill because Democrats threw out GOP border reforms from it. In response, Republicans made it clear that they will not support any further assistance to Kiev unless border measures are included in the legislation. Meanwhile, the current Ukraine military package has almost been exhausted. There are also rumors in the Western press that NATO allies want Zelensky either to hold the talks or to freeze the conflict along the line of contact. Will the Kiev regime be forced to take a pause during the winter season?

"Well, what we won't see is a pause," Scott Ritter, former Marine intelligence officer and UN weapons inspector, told Sputnik. "I mean, the Ukrainians and even the collective West, they’re throwing terms out there like: 'You know, it's a frozen conflict. We fought them to a standstill.' No, it's not a frozen conflict and they haven't fought the Russians to a standstill. Last winter, you know, the Ukrainians had their victory in Kharkov and Kherson. The Russians were consolidating their defenses, they had mobilized 300,000 men, and they were building the defenses. And so there was a pause that allowed [Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valery] Zaluzhny to plan an operation. They had the luxury of time to build the nine, I think they actually built 12 brigades, equipped them, prepared them for this counteroffensive, etc."

"Right now, we have a situation where the Russians are ready. Those 300,000 are fully trained. The majority of them have not been committed to the battlefield. In addition to that, over 450,000 volunteers and contract soldiers were absorbed. The Russians are at full strength with all the equipment, all the wherewithal. There will be no operational pause. The Ukrainians, on the other hand, have nothing to replace what's happening. They're now literally grabbing teenagers and pregnant women and putting them on the battlefield to fill the holes in the lines. There's nothing coming behind, and the West is out of money. There's no equipment. The Russians are not going to hit the pause button to give Ukraine a chance to catch their breath. The entire purpose of the Russian approach has been to grind the Ukrainians down to the point of exhaustion. And now we're there."

Scott Ritter

former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer

Meanwhile, it seems that the Kiev regime has found itself in dire straits: it desperately needs Western aid, which is either diminished or delayed; Zelensky is at odds with the Ukrainian military brass; and the Ukrainian people are increasingly losing trust in their president. On the other hand, both the US and EU are bracing for elections next year, which requires shifting the focus on domestic needs. To complicate matters further, Israel is determined to proceed with its war in Gaza despite growing protests in the Arab world and anxiety of its Western partners over civilian casualties piling up in the strip.

However, nobody is going to give Ukraine a pause, according to Ritter. While Moscow has repeatedly made it clear that it is open to constructive peace negotiations, the absence of Kiev's initiative would mean the prolongation of the conflict, the former Marine officer believes.

"We're going to see increasingly the elimination of cohesion on the battlefield as Ukrainians will retreat, as holes will be punched in the line. The Ukrainians are, I believe, in a very short period of time, going to be compelled to make a precipitous retreat back to more defensive positions. And that in itself is a very difficult military maneuver, one which Russia could exploit. You know, if they're prepared to push them back even further, but this winter will be a winter of continued death and destruction for the Ukrainians. And the Russians will continue to put the pedal to the metal and keep putting the pressure on the Ukrainians. The goal and objective of Russia is demilitarization. Demilitarization could have been done peacefully. Right now it's being done violently. And it means the absolute destruction of the Ukrainian military. And that is going to happen this winter. It will be destroyed in its totality."