NATO is starting to deploy troops in Ukraine and Russia is racing to win

US Troops to Ukraine After Biden is Reelected? – asks Stephen Bryen, a former US Deputy Under Secretary of Defense.

NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine. They are in uniform and mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east. Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers. These troops are not mercenaries. They wear the flag of their country on their shirts.

Speaking of mercenaries, Russia says there are over 3,100 in Ukraine.

More or less this is the same pattern that the US used when it sent "advisors" to Vietnam. In fact, they were US Special Forces who engaged in combat.

NATO is putting out the word these are not combat soldiers but are in Ukraine to operate sophisticated western hardware.  But if they are firing at the Russians the only proper way to interpret their presence is they are playing an active part in the shooting war.

The Biden administration, at least for public consumption, says it opposes sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine. But the truth is, Biden may be waiting for his reelection before he gives the order for US soldiers to fight in Ukraine. After Biden is reelected, he will have a free hand. The recent passage of the $60 billion air bill for Ukraine signals that Congress will go along with whatever the Biden administration wants to do "fighting the Russians."

The national security establishment fears a Russian victory in Ukraine. It would constitute a major setback in America’s security strategy and would be a blow, even a fatal one, to NATO.

Reportedly the Russian army is now fifteen percent bigger than it was before the Ukraine war. It is also far more experienced, and the Russians have found ways to deal with US high tech systems, such as jamming and spoofing.

Meanwhile NATO is far behind Russia. both in weapons, manpower and industrial might. Furthermore, stockpiles of weapons are very low and equipment supposedly for national defense has been sent to Ukraine, leaving defenses wanting.

The consensus opinion in the US National Security establishment is that Ukraine is losing its war with the Russians and could potentially face the collapse of its army. There already are reports that some of the top brigades in the Ukrainian armed forces, including the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade, the 67th mechanized Brigade that abandoned positions in Chasiv Yar, the 115th Brigade that refused to follow orders, and the 47th Mechanized that demanded rotation after more than a year on the front lines, all of whom refused orders from their commanders. These are top Army brigades and not territorial defense units.

The Russians know what is going on and they are targeting foreign forces while also grinding down Ukrainian fighting units, inflicting heavy casualties. The Russians say Ukraine has already lost almost 500,000 troops in the war, and the numbers destroyed in combat grow on a daily basis. Ukraine is desperate to find new recruits, and it is getting some help from countries where Ukrainian draft-age refugees are hiding out. Lithuania is planning to send Ukrainian draft-age men home. So is Poland.

A report on training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots also is revealing. According to some of the western officers working with the Ukrainians, progress even after a year teaching pilots to operate F-16s has been less than a success. Language barriers and unfamiliarity with western systems and combat tactics, has proven to slow the learning process. Rumors have it that when the F-16s finally begin arriving in Ukraine this summer, the planes are likely to be handled by "retired" pilots from European air forces.

NATO's plan seems to be to try and ward off disaster by filling in gaps in Ukraine's forces by importing "advisers," waiting for the US to commit its army to the battle after the election in November. The Russians know this and are in a race to try and collapse Ukraine's army before Biden returns to office, if in fact he does.

If the Russians are successful, a bigger war in Europe will be avoided.

If not, with the introduction of US forces, Europe will be plunged into World War III, Stephen Bryen stresses.

The House vote to approve $60 billion in funding for Ukraine comes at a desperate moment, notes ‘The Wall Street Journal’. Given Ukraine’s dire battlefield position and advances Moscow’s forces have made over recent months — during which they reinforced the roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory they held — the new help is unlikely to dramatically reverse Kyiv’s fortunes.

CIA Director William Burns said that without the new U.S. aid, “There is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024,” or at least put Russian President Vladimir Putin in a position to dictate terms of a political settlement.

Fresh U.S. arms deliveries “should have a noticeable impact on the battlefield,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander in an interview. “We can act quickly,” she said.

After the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said members had pledged to supply new air-defense systems and that the Czech Republic has delivered roughly 500,000 artillery shells as part of a program it has organized to buy up to one million shells for Kyiv. Ukraine’s Western allies supplying arms, known as the Ramstein group, plan later this month to hold a virtual meeting with the aim of expanding commitments.

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