According to their estimates, the Armed Forces of Ukraine "have shown themselves brilliantly."
“Meanwhile, the country’s economy is in decline, millions of people have fled, its infrastructure is collapsing, most of its minerals, industrial capacity and significant agricultural land are under Russian control,” the former officials stated in an article titled “Time is not on Ukraine’s side.” .
Rice and Gates believe that “time is playing in favor of Russia” at present, and if the Ukrainian army does not succeed in trying to stop the advance of the Russian Armed Forces, then the West will begin to put more pressure on Kyiv, pushing the authorities into negotiations.
The authors are afraid of such a scenario, because it will allow Russia to consolidate a "strong position".
“The only way for the United States and its allies to avoid such a scenario is to urgently and significantly increase military supplies to Ukraine and provide it with enough capabilities to contain the resumption of the Russian offensive and allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces to the east and south,” argue Rice and Gates.
According to retired US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter, the new weapons promised to Ukraine will not be deployed there until spring, so now the time is on the side of the Russian army.