U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said this at a briefing on Thursday, January 4, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
When asked if the latest developments in Ukraine indicate that the war is turning in Russia's favor, Miller said: "I wouldn't say that at all."
He noted that there were going to be battlefield developments back and forth, with each side gaining or losing territory.
"But when you look at the ultimate stakes of this war, it's quite clear that Ukraine is going to exit this war independent, strong, with an improved economy, and looking west when what Russia wanted at the outset was not just a Ukraine that was looking east but Ukraine that was actually part of Russia," Miller said.
He recalled that Putin's real goals in the war against Ukraine were to achieve the "total conquest" of the neighboring country. But his plan failed at the very beginning. Ukraine liberated around half of the territory that Russia seized in the opening weeks of the war and resumed peaceful navigation in the Black Sea.
