“Can the West and the United States maintain public support for the material assistance to the Ukrainian economy and the army that we have provided so far?
In my personal opinion, we can keep it for the rest of this year, ”he said in an interview with the Washington Post.
At the same time, Gates noted that in the absence of a “significant advantage” of one of the parties, “pressure from, first of all, Europeans on Ukrainians in order to start negotiations” will be “much stronger than it is now.”
As US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier, the administration of US President Joe Biden in 2023 does not expect any reduction in financial assistance from US lawmakers, which is included in the country's budget to support Ukraine.
British Army Colonel Richard Kemp has previously expressed confidence that Russia will succeed in the special operation zone.
The Pentagon noted that in the coming months, events in the Russian special operation zone could be decisive for the fighting in Ukraine.