The ISW made the assessment in its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine, published on Sunday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The US experts wrote: “Delays in the provision to Ukraine of Western long-range fires systems, advanced air defense systems, and tanks have limited Ukraine’s ability to take advantage of opportunities for larger counter-offensive operations presented by flaws and failures in Russian military operations.”
Three phases of war so far
According to the ISW, the war in Ukraine “has unfolded so far in three major periods.”
The Washington-based think tank noted: “The Russians had the initiative and were on the offensive from February 24 through July 3, 2022, whereupon their attacks culminated. The Ukrainians seized the initiative and began large-scale counteroffensives in August, continuing through the liberation of western Kherson Oblast on November 11.”
The US experts stated: “Ukraine has been unable to initiate a new major counter-offensive since then, allowing the conflict to settle into positional warfare and allowing the Russians the opportunity to regain the initiative if they choose and to raise the bar for future Ukrainian counteroffensives even if they do not.”
The ISW stressed: “The pattern of delivery of Western aid has powerfully shaped the pattern of this conflict.”
Weapons for Ukraine
Last week, Germany and the United States, as well as Poland, among other Western countries, announced that they would provide modern tanks to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.
Germany agreed to allow partner countries to re-export German-made tanks to Ukraine.
It came after weeks of diplomatic pressure on Germany, notably by Poland, to supply main battle tanks to Ukraine and allow partners to support Kyiv with some of their own German-made tanks.
Meanwhile, there have been reports that military officials had begun pushing the US Department of Defense to approve sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to help the country defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.
On Sunday night, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to speed up the delivery of weapons to his country, warning that the Russian army was launching constant attacks in the eastern Donetsk region.
Monday is day 341 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, understandingwar.org