US pressing on Ukraine to fight to the last man: Report

The  United States and its allies have called on Ukraine to fight against Russia before the Western weapons supplies to its forces start dwindling, according to a report. 

Senior American officials told the Washington Post on Monday that the US warned Kiev that it faced a pivotal moment in its war against Russia as the first anniversary of the country's "special military operation" approaches later this month.

“We will continue to try to impress upon them that we can’t do anything and everything forever,” a senior member of US President Joe Biden’s administration was quoted by the Post s saying.

The White House also warned that it fears that the West's flow of arms may be harder to come by in the near future, it stated

Earlier, Biden had vowed long-term to support Kiev for “as long as it takes” to defeat Russia. However, that stance does not apply to the extent of resources that Washington is prepared to send, according to the report published by the Post on Monday.

“‘As long as it takes’ pertains to the amount of conflict,” the unnamed official said. “It doesn’t pertain to the amount of assistance.”

The newspaper cited a shift in mood in the US House of Representatives, where the Republican majority appears increasingly skeptical of Biden’s Ukraine aid policy. It also referenced fatigue in Europe as another key threat for Kiev, as nations struggle with volatile energy prices and rampant inflation. The Ukrainian military likely has until summer to make progress, before the current US weapons package is exhausted, the report added.

Speaking on the eve of a two-day meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance defense ministers, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday that Ukraine is using up ammunition far faster than western allies can provide, putting pressure on these countries.

“The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions and depleting allied stockpiles,” Stoltenberg said.

“The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain.” According to some estimates, Ukraine is firing up to 6,000-7,000 artillery shells each day, reportedly three times more than the Russian side.

U.S. warns Ukraine it faces a pivotal moment in war

White House worries it will be far harder to win major aid packages from now on

WR has effectively portrayed a picture of what officials in Moscow have called a “Western war against Russia to the last Ukrainian,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

“US neoliberals have destroyed Ukraine and are exterminating the Ukrainian people. American hegemonic ambitions lead to a colossal loss of life,” Zakharova noted.

According to WP, senior US officials have relayed the Biden administration’s position to the Ukrainian leadership. Its sources said that on occasion it had been difficult to convince Kiev to take Washington’s preferred course of action.

Putin: West refuses to negotiate over Ukraine, aims to 'tear apart' Russia

Putin says Moscow is ready to negotiate with all parties involved in the war in Ukraine but Kiev and its Western allies refuse to engage in talks.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is a comedian actor -turned-politician, “attaches symbolic importance” to the city, the newspaper wrote.

The report stated that the US wants Kiev to use new deliveries of western-supplied weapons to launch a decisive offensive in the Russian-speaking regions, in an effort to gain much territory for adding leverage before starting possible peace talks with Russia.

Moscow has accused Kiev’s Western allies of derailing peace talks in the early weeks of the conflict.

Putin signs decree on accession of ‘four new regions’ into Russia

Vladimir Putin has signed a decree for the formal accession of four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia into Russia.

Four former Ukrainian regions have since joined Russia after the local populations voted for the move in referendums.

Meanwhile, Russia, which launched its operation in Ukraine almost a year ago on February 24, has repeatedly warned that the flow of tens of billions of dollars of weapons such as rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, and communications systems, is not helping Ukrainians and will only add to the carnage.

The status of the new territories is non-negotiable and nothing can stop Russia from achieving Moscow's declared objectives in the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, Kremlin officials have repeatedly asserted.

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