Russian President Putin is preparing for a prolonged conflict, and his goals are beyond Donbass.
This was stated by Director of US National Intelligence Avril Haines at a meeting of the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to The New York Times.
"We estimate that President Putin is preparing for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine, during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond Donbass," she said.
According to Haines, russia's goals in the war remain broad, including the creation of a land corridor along Ukraine's Black Sea coast. At the same time, in her opinion, the Kremlin will try to achieve the desired goal without resorting to large-scale mobilization.
According to Haines, the russian president has a long-term goal.
"Putin is also likely to believe that russia has more opportunities and readiness to withstand challenges than its opponents," said Haines. "And he probably expects that the determination of the United States and the European Union will weaken as food shortages arise and inflation and energy prices rise."
She also added that both Ukraine and russia believe that they can achieve military progress, and therefore a diplomatic solution does not seem possible in the short term.
"The reality that Putin is facing a mismatch between russia's ambitions and current conventional military capabilities probably means that in the next few months we will be moving in a more unpredictable and potentially escalating trajectory," she suggested.
In turn, the Director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency, General Scott Berrier, tells the Senate Committee that neither side is winning now.
"The russians are not winning, and the Ukrainians are not winning, and we are here in a dead end," said Berrier.
He noted that Ukraine has better opportunities to build additional combat capabilities, but russia can declare full-scale war and resort to mobilization.