Ukraine has not reached a ‘stalemate’ against Russia: White House

The White House on Tuesday said it did not assess that Ukraine has reached a stalemate in its defensive war against Russia, as reports from the battlefield detail Kyiv’s struggles to oust Moscow’s forces from dug-in positions on the front lines.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, responding to a reporter’s question, said that Ukraine is taking territory on a “methodical, systematic basis.” 

“We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate,” he said in a briefing with reporters. 

Ukraine’s second, major counteroffensive that was launched in June has proceeded much slower than its first major push in September 2022, during which Ukrainian forces retook an estimated 3,000 square miles of territory within a few days. 

“There is attacking and defending taking place on both sides at multiple points along a very extended front line of trace,” Sullivan said.

“And it is true that the Russians have been attacking up in the northeast. It is also true that the Ukrainians have been defending up in the northeast quite effectively.”

Sullivan said that critics of Ukraine’s counteroffensive “should approach the question of battlefield conduct with a level of humility,” in response to a question over U.S. government frustration with Ukraine’s war strategy. 

“We do our best to provide our best advice and then Ukraine makes its own sovereign decisions about how it’s going to proceed,” he said. “That’s how I look at it, that’s how the president looks at it, that’s the policy of the United States.” 

Ukraine has reportedly made significant gains in the southeast, even as it faces stiff resistance in the northeast, according to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War.  

The intensive fighting over the 18 months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion has come at a heavy price, with an estimated 500,000 dead and injured on both sides of the war. 

Russian military casualties are estimated at approaching 300,000, with 120,000 deaths and between 170,000 and 180,000 injured troops. That number is lower for Ukraine but still significant, with 70,000 killed and between 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.

Sullivan said the White House had observed Ukraine making gains in the south in the past 24 hours and said that the Ukrainians are continuously probing the Russian lines for weaknesses while trying to carry out the fight “sustainably.”

“It is a dynamic battlefield,” he said. “It is one where we need to continue to move the fundamental elements of both defense and offense, in particular, the artillery ammunition and the mobility that Ukraine needs to be able to both hold ground and take ground, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do, working with the coalition of nations that has been supporting Ukraine since it started this conflict.”

Still, there is concern that Ukraine’s slow pace of pushing Russia back, while Russian forces continue to adapt their defenses, risks straining U.S. and international support to provide economic and military assistance to Kyiv for as long as the fight takes.

The Biden administration released a request to Congress earlier this month for $24 billion in funding related to support for Ukraine and other international needs, but that is likely to face a tough battle on Capitol Hill, where GOP voices critical of U.S. assistance for Ukraine are putting pressure on House leaders.

Sullivan said that bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine is strong despite “dissident voices.”

“We believe that at the core, there is still a strong bipartisan foundation of support for our Ukraine policy and for supporting and defending Ukraine. And so we have communicated that to our friends in Kyiv and to our allies and partners,” he said.