CIA director William Burns said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's military campaign in Ukraine was "a huge strategic failure" owing to which Russia is fast moving into becoming a “economic colony”.
"If you think about not only the losses in manpower and materiel; the humiliation in many respects of the Russian military, the exposure of its weaknesses; the long-term damage that sanctions and export controls, and the exodus of more than 1,000 Western firms from Russia, are going to have on Russia's own economic prospects," William Burns said.
"If you think that, early in the war, it was Putin's intention to try to fracture and weaken NATO, the truth is, NATO is as coherent as it's ever been. It's just added one new member in Finland; it's likely to add a second in Sweden," he added.
"And if you look at the reality that Russia is becoming more and more dependent on China, and in some respects runs the risk of becoming an economic colony of China over time, dependent for export of energy resources and raw materials in that direction as well, that all adds up, in my view, to a huge own goal for Putin's Russia right now," he further explained.
On Vladimir Putin, the CIA director said, "His bet is that he can grind down the Ukrainians and wear down the West. He thinks, and he wants us to think, that he can make time work for him. He remains convinced that Ukraine matters more for him than it does for us. I think that Putin is as wrong in that bet as he was in his assumptions before his invasion."
{{/usCountry}}On Vladimir Putin, the CIA director said, "His bet is that he can grind down the Ukrainians and wear down the West. He thinks, and he wants us to think, that he can make time work for him. He remains convinced that Ukraine matters more for him than it does for us. I think that Putin is as wrong in that bet as he was in his assumptions before his invasion."
{{/usCountry}}Last month, China's president, Xi Jinping visited Moscow and signed multi-year agreements with Vladimir Putin.