Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Putin will soon have 'no choice' but to stop his invasion of Ukraine, former US general says

Putin will soon have 'no choice' but to stop his invasion of Ukraine, former US general says

"Putin will have to halt his war in Ukraine sooner or later and probably in a matter of weeks," retired US Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan told Insider.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely be forced to bring his failing monthlong war against Ukraine to a halt, a retired US general and Russia specialist told Insider — a scenario that may happen within weeks after Russian forces have sustained heavy losses and subjected Ukraine's cities to indiscriminate attacks.

Retired US Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan said he believed this to be the "most likely scenario" to play out, as Putin has already "failed to accomplish" his "main military goals" in Ukraine — a lightning strike to seize Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and other big cities and remove their elected leaders — and Russia's economy continues to be decimated by sweeping Western sanctions over its war with the Eastern European country.

"Putin will have to halt his war in Ukraine sooner or later and probably in a matter of weeks," Ryan, who served as the defense attaché to Russia for the US, among numerous other roles, told Insider on Thursday.

"The reason is not because he wants to halt his military operation but because he has no choice," Ryan, 67, said. "He has basically reached the capacity of what his military can do for him in Ukraine."

Ukraine's armed forces, aided by civilians, have been greatly outnumbered and outgunned by Russian troops since Russia launched its attack in late February, but Ukrainians have managed to put up a fierce resistance, which has resulted in a mounting Russian death toll and an essentially stalled invasion.

An assessment from the Institute for the Study of War found that Ukrainian forces had forced Russian troops into defensive positions, while Putin's forces had "continued to settle in for a protracted and stalemated conflict."

Ryan said the Russian army "has a huge personnel problem."

"There is no significant military unit left in Russia outside of Ukraine. They are all in the fight," he said.

"There is almost no part of the Russian military that's not dedicated, committed to Ukraine, so if he has to escalate, how does he escalate?" he added, referring to Putin.

At this point, Ryan said it would be "impossible" for Russia to take control of all Ukraine like Putin hoped to.

"He does not have the military forces to take all of Ukraine and occupy it," Ryan said, adding: "Russian leadership overestimated what their military was capable of."

Ryan called this "a great achievement by Ukrainian people to have prevented an overthrow of their government and a total seizure of all their land."

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, and in the weeks since, they have surrounded and shelled several towns across the Eastern European country, hitting multiple civilian targets, including residential buildings, hospitals, and a theater.

But British intelligence said on Friday that thanks to Ukrainian counterattacks, Ukraine had retaken some areas around Kyiv it lost earlier in the war.

Ryan, a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said he believed Ukraine would see "an increase in violence" by Russian forces "in the near future" until Putin was forced to halt his military operation.

Putin "can increase the violence and do more damage and destruction in Ukraine," Ryan said.

"He can try to find and encircle and destroy the Ukrainian military, which is smaller than his," he added. "But even if he does all of those things, he cannot strategically do much more with his military."

Ryan said: "They're out of troops, they're out of units, they are fully committed to doing just what they are now."

But he said an end to the war in Ukraine wouldn't "necessarily mean a halt in violence."

"Violence can continue even during the time of negotiations between the sides," Ryan said, adding that the halting of the invasion would likely be "indefinite" until Putin "gets enough concessions from Ukraine" and even from the West regarding the severe sanctions on Russia.

"So until he gets enough concessions," Ryan said of Putin, "I think he would want to stay in that kind of no man's land of a halted military operation — one that could be restarted at any time.

"That would be the threat."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×