CIA director says Putin 'entirely too confident' his 'cannon fodder' can 'grind down' Ukraine's army

Since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, battlefield setbacks have forced it to shift from trying to seize the entire country and topple its government to attempting a full conquest of its eastern Donbas region. And "in recent weeks, Russia has likely changed its approach again," Britain's Ministry of Defense assesses. "Its campaign now likely primarily seeks to degrade the Ukrainian military, rather than being focused on seizing substantial new territory," banking that "Russia's advantages in population and resources will eventually exhaust Ukraine."

CIA Director William Burns suggested Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was aiming too high even with those lowered objectives. When he met with his Russian counterpart last November, Burns told CBS's Face the Nation, he sensed a "cockiness and hubris" that reflected Putin's beliefs "he can make time work for him" and "grind down the Ukrainians."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.