The former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has slammed the performance of Russia’s Armed Forces in Ukraine, branding them “incompetent.” The retired admiral added that the poor conduct of Russian troops since the start of the invasion of Ukraine has left him “stunned.”
Admiral Mullen told CNN: “Seemingly it is more than evenly balanced because of the continued incompetence of the Russian army, mostly army, but Russian Armed Forces.
“Which has been, from my perspective, somewhat stunning.
“I think as I look at this, this is from my interactions with my European friends, Europe, thinks this is existential.
“They think Putin is existential, and I think Sweden and Finland joining NATO so quickly, are poised to do so is just an example of that.
“I do believe that Putin still wants all of Ukraine and he will continue to fight accordingly.
“I think he’s a little bit out of touch in terms of what’s going on on the ground and out of touch on how badly his forces have performed.
“But they’re better now than they were early and you know, unconstrained and unopposed, he’ll take he’ll try to take all of Ukraine.”
It comes as a ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for foreign markets on Monday under a safe passage agreement, a Ukrainian minister said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping through the Black Sea five months ago.
The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertiliser export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month.
“The first grain ship since RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & UN we were able to fully implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter.
The Turkish defence minister said earlier that the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which is loaded with corn, will head to Lebanon. More ships will follow, it said.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has led to a worldwide food and energy crisis and the United Nations has warned of the risk multiple famines this year.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat exports. But Western sanctions on Russia and fighting along Ukraine’s eastern seaboard have prevented grain ships from safely leaving ports.
The deal aims to allow safe passage for grain shipments in and out of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and the port of Pivdennyi.
Ukrainian presidential officials have said 17 ships were docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports with almost 600,000 tonnes of cargo. Of them, 16 vessels held Ukrainian grain with a total tonnage of about 580,000 tonnes.
Moscow has denied responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its ports.
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