PENTAGON WARNS UKRAINE’S WAR COULD CONTINUE FOR YEARS—RUSSIA HAS BUILT A STATE AROUND SUSTAINING IT
U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby has warned Ukraine’s allies to prepare for the possibility of a very long war, saying that no one can confidently predict when the conflict will end.
Addressing an online meeting of countries supporting Ukraine, Colby said Europe must be capable of sustaining military assistance for the long term. He also urged Ukraine’s partners to prepare for other possible scenarios, although he did not specify what those might involve.
The warning reflects an uncomfortable reality. Russia has placed its economy, industry and increasingly its society on a war footing. Factories, government spending, recruitment, propaganda and political repression have all been reorganized around continuing the invasion.
Such a system cannot be switched back to normal overnight. Ending the war would force the Kremlin to explain its enormous losses, reintegrate hundreds of thousands of armed veterans, unwind military spending and justify why years of sacrifice failed to achieve Putin’s original objectives.
Russia could still end this war at any moment by withdrawing from Ukraine. The problem is not that Moscow lacks an exit—it is that Putin has made taking that exit politically dangerous for his own regime.
Like a gambler who has crossed every limit while chasing one more gain, the Kremlin keeps sacrificing lives and resources for a few additional miles. That makes long-term Western planning essential. Ukraine cannot be supported through isolated packages and temporary promises while Russia prepares to fight for years.