CIA chief: Kyiv faces tough battle this year, US aid flows vital

Ukraine will likely face a tough year fighting Russia in 2024, CIA Director Bill Burns said on Tuesday, arguing that to cut off U.S. aid to Kyiv would be an error of “historic proportions.”
In an article on the Foreign Affairs journal’s website, Burns also said Ukraine could raise the costs of the war to Russia by striking deeper behind the front lines.
A former U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Burns said the war has begun to erode Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power and suggested China could adopt a more aggressive stance toward Taiwan if it saw U.S. support for Ukraine wane.
“This year is likely to be a tough one on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Burns wrote. “For the United States to walk away from the conflict at this crucial moment and cut off support to Ukraine would be an own goal of historic proportions.”