- National security advisor Sullivan said Russia has "manifestly failed" in its invasion of Ukraine.
- "The brave citizens of Ukraine are refusing to submit," he said. "They're fighting back."
- President Biden will head to Europe on Wednesday to map out the next steps for dealing with Russia.
National security advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday said that Russia has "manifestly failed" in achieving its three major goals through the country's "brutal" invasion of Ukraine.
Sullivan — while speaking at the White House press briefing ahead of President Joe Biden's trip to Europe beginning on Wednesday — detailed the miscalculations of Russia's military operations in Ukraine and expressed that Moscow's actions have not weakened the resolve of the Ukrainian people.
"Russia intended to accomplish three basic objectives in launching its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine — first, to subjugate Ukraine. Second, to enhance Russian power and prestige. And third, to divide and weaken the West," he said.
He continued: "Russia has thus far manifestly failed to accomplish all three objectives. In fact, it has thus far achieved the opposite."
Sullivan went on to highlight the unwavering commitment that the Ukrainian people have displayed while protecting their homeland against Russian advances.
"The brave citizens of Ukraine are refusing to submit," he said. "They're fighting back. They're defending their homes. They're defending their cities."
He emphasized: "Although Russia may take more territory in these brutal military operations, it will never take the country away from the Ukrainian people."
Sullivan then highlighted the underperformance of the Russian military over the course of the roughly four-week invasion, which US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and former CIA director David Petraeus have both noted in recent days. Austin said the Russian invasion has "essentially stalled," while Petraeus pointed out Moscow's "abysmal performance" in its attempt to overtake the country.
Per a US intelligence estimate, 7,000 Russian troops have died in the conflict, but the pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda on Monday reported that nearly 10,000 of the country's troops have been killed thus far. The Kremlin-friendly tabloid eventually removed these figures, which were much higher than the Russian Ministry of Defense publicly reported, and claimed that it was hacked.
"Russian power and prestige have been badly depleted," Sullivan said during the briefing. "The Russian military has dramatically underperformed. The Russian economy has been rocked by powerful sanctions. The Russian high-tech and defense sectors are being choked off from key inputs."
He added: "Russia is a pariah in the international community."
Despite international condemnation and severe economic sanctions fueled by the attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet reached a peace agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sullivan then remarked on the "incredible unity" that the US has "built with allies and partners in response to Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine," while noting that Biden will seek to map out additional steps that the West will take in response to the ongoing attacks while in Europe.
"The nations of the free world are more united, more determined, and more purposeful than at any point in recent memory," Sullivan said.
'This war will not end easily or rapidly'
Western powers have come together to slap unprecedented sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion. The US personally targeted Putin with sanctions in a rare example of a world leader being directly hit with such economic penalties. Since the invasion in late February, countries like Germany, Norway, and Sweden set aside longstanding policies by announcing they would send weapons to Ukraine. NATO has also presented a unified front against Russia, after years of internal tensions and questions about the longevity of the alliance.
Ukraine has expressed gratitude for the West's support amid the Russian onslaught, while simultaneously calling on NATO and the US to do more.
In an emotional address to Congress last week, Zelenskyy pushed for the US to support a no-fly zone in Ukraine. The US and NATO have firmly ruled this out, given it would require the alliance to shoot down Russian warplanes and effectively amount to a declaration of war.
Biden has been adamant that he will not involve US troops involved in the conflict. NATO also includes a number of nuclear powers, including the US, and a war between the alliance and Russia could potentially be catastrophic. Russia and the US alone collectively possess roughly 90% of the world's nuclear weapons.
With Russia facing stiffer resistance in Ukraine than expected — and a number of senior Russian officers already killed in the first few weeks of the war — the Russian military has employed brutal tactics that have created a hellish situation for Ukrainians. Russia has pummeled a number of Ukrainian cities with missiles and artillery. Zelenskyy on Monday said the port city of Mariupol was being "reduced to ashes." Biden has called Putin a war criminal over Russia's actions in the war so far.
But the Pentagon on Tuesday also said that the US has "seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offensive now."
"They have been defending very smartly, very nimbly, very creatively in places that they believe are the right places to defend," Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
That said, Sullivan on Tuesday also underscored that there will be "hard days ahead in Ukraine," adding that it will be "hardest for the Ukrainian troops on the frontlines, and the civilians under Russian bombardment."
"This war will not end easily or rapidly," Sullivan said.