Statements of the US Supreme Allied Commander & Commander of US Troops in Europe to Congress
Annual hearing in the House Armed Services Committee + questions from the committee.
4-star General Christopher G. Cavoli - Commander of US troops in Europe and Supreme Allied Commander. 38 years in the US army. Served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
INTRODUCTION: ruzzias war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, has revealed ruzzia to be a chronic threat and we see in the future it will be a growing threat. One that is willing to use military force to achieve its geopolitical goals. ruzzia is today actively waging a campaign of destabilization across Europe and beyond.
IS RUZZIAS ARMY STRONG? Overall, the quality of their forces, especially their ground forces, has been decreasing throughout the war. On the Ukrainian side we see sort of the oposite. We see a military that started, pretty much from a cold start and they've evolved and developed very very quickly. We have learned a lot from watching both sides.
QUESTION: The ruzzians are nowhere near being able to make a big push right now?
Answer: That is my assesment, Chairman.
ARE THE UKRAINIANS DESTINED TO LOSE?
Answer: No, Senator. Thank you for the question, because I think it's an important one. The Ukrainians are in very strong defensive positions right now and are improving weekly their ability to generate force and to reinforce those positions. It is very hard to invesion Ukraine collapsing and losing that conflict. I do not think there's an inevitability to a Ukrainian loss.
ARE UKRAINE WINNING? Is Ukraine from this time last year (until today) winning this war against ruzzia?
Answer: They are in a much better position not to lose it, Senator Tuberville.
Question: They are trying to win, right?
Answer: They are trying to win. They wanna start, by making sure ruzzia doesn't win.
WILL A PEACE DEAL HOLD? Do you believe, that if any sort of deal was made with Putin, that he'd be done with invading neighboring countries and adventurism in Europe?
Answer: I do not, ma'am. My professional assessment, built on years of study (38 years in the army),that this is part of a broader pattern in ruzzian history and certainly in current ruzzian activity. That is my professional assessment of the threat.
SHOULD USA SUPPORT UKRAINE? You previously stated, that supporting Ukraine is vital for American security. Can you confirm, that you still believe that is correct?
Answer: I do believe that. Yes Ma'am.
IS MILITARY AID BEING ABUSED? We've heard from critics of the military aid, that there are significant numbers of weapons stolen or missing. I believe, we are tracking down to virtually every bullet and there is no evidence of that, whatsoever. Would you agree?
Answer: I agree with that. We have seen no deliberate effort to transfer, sell or steal weaponry. The Ukrainians are using it to defend their country.
REFERENDUMS IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIESA member of the committee asked if the elections were rigged.
The General answered: Yes sir. That was the widespread conclusion at the time. During his speech General Cavoli also rejected the legitimacy of the referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Another sharp contrast to the Musk-Trump regime.
STATUS ON F-16'S? The planes are active. They are flying every day. They've defeated a large number of cruise missile threats. They have delivered an awful lot of offensive attacks as well. None of the F16s has come from the US though. They've come from Northern European countries - The Netherlands and Denmark.
STATUS ON PATRIOT SYSTEMS? They are up and running. That has been in my mind a success story. I was a little bit dubious in the beginning, its a complicated system. We train guys for a long long time to be able to operate it. The Ukrainians took to it like fish to water. In fact, we learn from some of their emplyment techniques right now.
UKRAINIAN ARMY TRANSITIONUkraine has transitioned in to a mainly western equipped army, which is pretty complicated.We operate off a different aiming circle. It's amazing to do that under fire, under the pressure of one of the worlds largest armies. It's a fantastic feat
ALLIESOur strengthened allies will increase our strenght. And our deep relationships gives us the access, the basing and the intelligence necessary to do this.
CHASIV YAR STATUSThey have been fighting over Chasiv Yar and Toretsk for 8 months. In recent weeks the ruzzian offensives has sort of petered out. They have been decreasing in scale, moving from company size to platoon size, now basically small groups of infantry trying to rush forward under artillery fire and they have failed to gain ground. In fact Ukraine has gained some ground there recently.
