America predicts the duration of the Russian war on Ukraine
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Wednesday that Russia's war in Ukraine would last "several months".
Blinken said during a press conference held with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington that the war "may end tomorrow if Russia stops its aggression", but "we do not see any indication in this direction at the current stage."
Blinken also confirmed that Ukraine had promised the United States that it would not use the new long-range weapons against targets inside Russia.
"There is a strong relationship of trust between Ukraine and the United States, as well as with our allies and partners," he added.
Blinken denied allegations that the United States risked escalation with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February despite repeated Western warnings.
"It is Russia that is attacking Ukraine and not the other way around...The best way to avoid escalation is for Russia to stop the aggression and the war that it has started, and it has the absolute capacity to do so," he said.
The United States announced Tuesday that it would supply Ukraine with "advanced missile systems" that Ukraine desperately demands, with a guarantee that it would not use them to strike Russia.
"We will provide the Ukrainians with more advanced missile systems and ammunition, which will allow them to more accurately hit key targets on the battlefield in Ukraine," US President Joe Biden wrote in an article published in the New York Times.
The US President did not specify what type of missile system he was talking about, but a senior official in the White House said that it was a HIMARS launcher.
The official told reporters, asking not to be named, that the Ukrainian army would receive HIMARS launchers and missiles with a range of up to 80 km, ending several days of speculation about the nature of additional specific weapons that Washington decided to supply Kyiv with to counter the Russian invasion.
The HIMARs are rocket launchers that are mounted on light armored vehicles and fire guided, precision-guided missiles.
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