The United States “will get Ukraine what it needs” to fight its war with Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, but he gave no hint that Washington might endorse key planks of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's so-called “victory plan.

A defeated Russia would be forced to cooperate, while a victorious Russia would be emboldened to pursue further expansion. The fate of Ukraine, therefore, is a major factor in the Russian threat in the future.

A satellite image shows a part of Lipetsk military airbase, after Ukraine said it hit the area, in this satellite image taken on August 9, 2024, in Lipetsk region, Russia. 2024 Planet Labs Inc/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces attacked infrastructure at a military airfield in Russia's Lipetsk region and an explosives-manufacturing enterprise in the Nizhny Novgorod region,