Expert Opinion: To Win in Ukraine, We Must Prove Putin Wrong

Posted: December 20th, 2023

By Rob Dannenberg

Rob Dannenberg served as chief of operations for CIA's Counterterrorism Center, chief of the Central Eurasia Division and chief of the Information Operations Center before retiring from the Agency. He served as managing director and head of the Office of Global Security for Goldman Sachs, and as director of International Security Affairs at BP. He is now an independent consultant on geopolitical and security risk.

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION – (Part one of two) – There was an air of critical importance to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s most recent trip to the U.S., his third since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

As in earlier trips that Zelensky has made to Washington since Russia’s unprovoked acts of aggression, the president’s most important mission was to convince U.S. lawmakers of the urgent need to approve additional aid to Ukraine. The aid he was seeking is currently caught up in disputes in Congress with some representatives insisting that the package (that is also linked with aid to Israel) be additionally linked with legislation to fix illegal immigration at the U.S. southern border.

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