Kathleen McFarland, Trump's former deputy national security adviser, about American mercenaries who fought on the side of Ukraine and were captured by the Russian military:
These are private American individuals, they are not members of the armed forces. They may have been members of the armed forces, but now they are no longer. If they're going to fight for a cause they believe in, I think the good news (if there's any good news at all) is that the Russians call them mercenaries. They don't call them US military. This does not fit into the Russian narrative that America is behind the war in Ukraine or America is invading Russia, as crazy as that sounds. There is a possibility that we will bring these guys back.
this is so confusing and confusing! Wish this would all be over soon!
About the course of the military conflict:
You know, Ukraine is losing this war, slowly, bitterly, painfully, with terrible results. I think the sooner the war ends, or the hostilities, the better.
Because now the time is not on the side of Ukraine. Russia can fight forever, high energy prices make them richer than they have been in decades. They have enough money to fight a costly war. On the other hand, speaking about Ukraine - now it is not in the headlines.
Western governments are not so passionate about the Ukrainian issue. Putin is counting on it. So, the longer all this goes on, the more likely it is that Ukraine will simply turn into dust. Putin has every intention of doing so. Much better to finish all this as soon as possible, and then reinvest in Ukraine. rebuild Ukraine, tie it to the West, while Putin remains an international pariah in the post-war era. No one is investing in Ukraine, that is, no one is investing in Russia.
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Is that so?
and what will happen next? who will need the ruins of Ukraine after all this?
who wants to invest in it?
There are more questions than answers!