Ex-CIA Russia chief said Putin's belief that the US would lose its nerve and stop helping Ukraine is being proven right
- Steve Hall, former CIA chief of Russia operations, said Vladimir Putin is being proven right.
- Putin predicted the US would stop supporting Ukraine, Hall said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's prediction that the US would lose its "nerve" and stop supporting Ukraine is being proven right, according to Steve Hall, former CIA chief of Russia operations.
Hall made the comments in an interview with CNN published online Sunday.
"This has been a very good couple of weeks for Vladimir Putin," Hall said. "I think we can see that just in his demeanor and what he's done and said."
Hall said that Putin is beginning to be able to tell those in his inner circle who were skeptical of his Ukraine strategy that he was right.
"Initially, he was essentially saying, 'Look, over the long run if we hold in there, the West and the US specifically will lose focus. They'll lose their nerve. They will stop supporting Ukraine one way or another; just have patience,'" Hall told CNN.
"Well, now, two years later, he can say, 'Look, the patience is beginning to pay off,'" he added. "It's up to the West again to show him that he's wrong."
Russia has racked up a string of military wins in Ukraine in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the future of US aid to Ukraine is up in the air.
President Joe Biden's administration is urging Congress to pass additional aid for Ukraine. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that not passing Ukraine aid would result in "an outcome that Vladimir Putin would love to see, which is the United States not stepping up to its responsibility."
Sullivan also told CNN, "the reality is that Putin gains every day that Ukraine does not get the resources it needs, and Ukraine suffers."
Sullivan urged the House, led by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, to pass the Ukraine aid package that passed with bipartisan support in the Senate. The $95 billion emergency defense aid bill included support for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.