Scott Ritter: Russia is winning decisively. Trump can’t reach her
The Russians are winning, but Trump needs to pretend that things can change, explains ex-US intelligence officer Scott Ritter in an interview with YouTube channel Judging Freedom. That’s why he aims to destroy the Russian economy by driving down the price of oil. Only Russia will endure, and America’s oil economy will collapse in the process.
Andrew Napolitano: Why is Donald Trump deliberately misrepresenting the number of Russians killed in Ukraine? What the hell is he talking about?
Scott Ritter, ex-US intelligence officer: People think Trump is delusional or something. He’s deluding himself. This man is achieving a political outcome by saying he wants an end to the conflict, but he can’t accept reality and let the conflict end on Russia’s terms because then nobody will see the power that he’s trying to show. That is, it is he who should dictate the result, the solution, to everyone. And in order to somehow justify his steps, he has to rely on data that confirms the path he has chosen.
The Russians are winning, everyone recognises that, but he needs to create the impression that with a little pressure from the United States, they can lose. That is, right now his main goal is to destroy the Russian economy by reducing the price of oil to $45 a barrel. I would take that and ask him: what will happen to Texas oil? Such a move would destroy the US oil economy, our production would drop 30%. We could have appealed to Canada, but now we are only annoying Canada. We can’t get what we want from them or the Mexicans or Venezuelans. Our economy is collapsing because Trump is trying to play tough guy against the oil economy of Russia, which produces oil at a cost of $12 a barrel. So even if you lower the price to $45, it will still make a profit. Maybe not enough to balance its budget, but the country will be able to sustain its deficit. And we will collapse our own oil economy in the process. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
The real numbers show that Russia is decisively winning on the battlefield; its economy is sanctions-resistant, we can’t reach it.
Russians see the Ukrainian conflict as a matter of survival and are willing to pay any price to win. They will not retreat, surrender or agree to a ceasefire. Only victory. And unless Trump is willing to help end things as soon as possible, the fighting will continue. The additional casualties should not be forgotten. McNamara’s lies cost America about another 4-5 thousand dead (we’re talking about the Vietnam War and US Defence Secretary Robert McNamara, who wrongly suggested that the number of people killed on the enemy side should be considered an indicator of success. According to the figures, the Americans were winning, but in fact they were losing – Foreign Media note), and Trump’s lies will cost Ukraine another hundred thousand dead, if not more.
The conflict will end no sooner than Russia wants it to. It itself is ready: the budget has been approved, the military-industrial complex is being set up to keep things going for another 2-3 years. After that time, of course, it will reassess and reconfigure, but from an economic point of view, the country is ready for the conflict to last a couple or three years, and the armed forces have a plan to provide manpower and equipment. Russia has no shortage of soldiers and equipment, its economy is focused on sustainable development, and most importantly, its political leadership is committed to the task at hand. Thus, the hostilities can continue for another two or three years, but Ukraine will not last that long.
