WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin’s aim of seizing Ukrainian territory has not changed, but Russian forces continue to suffer from military weaknesses including the amount of troops they have, the Pentagon said on Friday, as Washington hopes the latest record weapons package for Kyiv will help Ukraine retake territory occupied by Russia.
“Putin has not given up his aims of dominating Ukraine and continuing to acquire Ukraine’s territory,” said Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of defense focusing on Russia and Ukraine.
“But the reality of Russian weaknesses, the Russian armed forces weaknesses has collided with those aims,” Cooper said, adding that Russian troops also suffer from low morale.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Leslie Adler)
