Watch the scumbag press begin their pivot on the Ukraine.

First, we heard about the US/Nato sanctions bringing Russia to it's knees, then the brave effort that Zelensky put forth pushing the invaders out. Of course, this has always been fiction and now that the chickens are coming home to roost the story will begin it's slow pivot.

Same story in Vietnam, Syria Afghanistan...blah blah blah. We get involved, sell arms to a losing side...try our best, and then sneak off letting innocent folks who trusted us get cut to ribbons. Do we routinely support corrupt inept actors who are doomed to failure...only all the time (that is since the Korean War).

Of course, you're free to keep drinking the government Kool-Aid if you enjoy this time of fiction.

Ukraine’s Stalled Offensive Puts Biden in Uneasy Political Position

Administration’s hopes that Kyiv could negotiate with Moscow fade with slow progress on the ground

By Gordon Lubold, Michael R. Gordon, and Warren P. Strobel, WSJ

Updated July 25, 2023 12:00 am ET

The slow pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against entrenched Russian invaders is dimming hopes that negotiations for an end to the fighting could come this year and raising the specter of an open-ended conflict, according to Western officials.

A potential stalemate would test President Biden’s stated strategy of pouring billions of dollars in military aid into Ukraine, to enable Kyiv to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength. It could also challenge the West’s continuing ability to supply weaponry that is already in short supply, and provide political fodder to those opposing U.S. support for the war.

“Obviously it’s easier to provide more support when things are going well,” said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and an advocate of expanding military assistance to Kyiv. But the Biden administration doesn’t have much choice other than to continue providing weapons, he said.

Backing away from Ukraine and allowing even a partial Russian victory “would be the signature failure of Biden foreign policy that would dwarf the Afghan withdrawal,” added Herbst, who is now at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank.

The U.S. stay-the-course strategy holds some risks, however. Biden has staked his foreign policy credentials on a conflict that he describes as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism. He has directed more than $43 billion in security assistance to Kyiv, but is facing challenges in Congress from some members of the Republican Party.

On Thursday, 13 Senate Republicans backed an amendment to the annual defense spending bill that would have limited the availability of funds for Ukraine. The amendment failed, and support for Ukraine remains strong among other Republicans in Congress.

As Biden moves toward a presidential contest next year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has more of an incentive to try to outlast the West. Two of the top contenders for the Republican nomination—former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—have suggested they might temper military support for Ukraine.

Russia has also shown little inclination to negotiate. With the invasion of Ukraine bogged down, Putin is facing critics inside his country who say he hasn’t pursued the war aggressively enough.

“The Russians are more than happy to talk about Ukraine’s capitulation,” said Thomas Graham, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I don’t think they are seriously interested in any talks about a resolution of the Ukraine crisis short of that at this point.”

Ukraine’s counteroffensive, launched at the start of June, is aimed at retaking some of the nearly 20% of Ukrainian territory occupied by Moscow. While Ukraine has seized back some territory, it hasn’t yet achieved a breakthrough that might force Russia to the negotiating table.

Russia accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on Moscow early Monday. The Russian Defense Ministry said the drones were intercepted, and Moscow’s mayor said no serious damage or injuries were reported. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

“My hope is and my expectation is you’ll see that Ukraine makes significant progress on their offensive and it generates a negotiated settlement somewhere along the line,” Biden said during his visit to Helsinki earlier this month.

With neither Russia nor Ukraine inclined to negotiate, the White House has few options for now but to stay the course, hoping for an eventual battlefield breakthrough against entrenched Russian forces—or new political cracks in Moscow.

U.S. officials acknowledge the counteroffensive is going slowly, but say it is too soon to assess the effectiveness until Ukraine commits more of its combat brigades, especially those that have been trained by the U.S. at bases in Europe in armored maneuver warfare.

“If they commit their reserves and their reserves aren’t successful, then we will have to determine the way ahead,” said one U.S. official.

In an interview Sunday on CNN, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the offensive is still in its early days and Ukraine has “already taken back about 50% of what was initially seized” since February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian soldiers in eastern Ukraine. U.S. officials acknowledge the counteroffensive is going slowly.

Kyiv’s mission is a difficult one, said a senior European official, who indicated his government had little expectation Ukraine’s forces could evict Russian troops from all of eastern Ukraine or retake Crimea. While a surprise is possible, he acknowledged, it isn’t necessarily likely.

“We are not expecting that they will be able to recover all the territory that was lost to Russia, especially if you are considering Crimea and even the territory which was lost in 2014 with Donbas,” said the official, whose government is among Ukraine’s strong supporters.

Another challenge facing the U.S. and its allies are dwindling reserves of key weaponry, a shortfall Washington recently sought to partly address by supplying Kyiv with cluster munitions.

Speaking to reporters last week at the Aspen Security Forum, U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the U.S. and the West must continue to supply as much and as quickly possible to Ukraine.

“People say, ‘Yeah, but you know what, we can’t leave the cupboard bare. You got to save it for a rainy day,’” he said. “I mean, this is the rainy day.”

One Western diplomat in Washington said the U.S. may have to accept that the war in Ukraine isn’t going to end soon, and allies need to prepare to supply Kyiv for a conflict that lasts for years.

“The only real response is an industrial mobilization that will give Ukrainians, and the Russians, a clear message that the Ukrainians will always have plenty of what they need,” the diplomat said.

The question is whether the U.S. and its allies have the resolve to continue support, or even expand it, if the offensive continues to fall short of expectations. High on Ukraine’s wishlist are U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles and faster acquisition of F-16 fighters.

Speaking last week at the Aspen Security Forum, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland openly worried about the ability of Western allies to stay the course.

“My biggest fear for Ukraine, actually, is us,” she said.

Alan Cullison, William Mauldin and Sharon Weinberger contributed to this article.

Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com, Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com and Warren P. Strobel at Warren.Strobel@wsj.com