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Retired Gen. David Petraeus says the war in Ukraine 'looks very dire' for Russian President Vladimir Putin

David Petraeus
Retired Gen. David Petraeus.Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Concordia Summit
  • Ret. Gen. David Petraeus said the situation in Ukraine "looks very dire" for Vladimir Putin.

  • The ex-CIA director made the comments during an interview on WABC radio with host John Catsimatidis.

  • Petraeus said Putin's partial mobilization of reservists wouldn't produce "cohesive" troops.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus on Sunday said the war in Ukraine "looks very dire" for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the Ukrainian military has been able to push back against invading forces in ways not foreseen by Moscow.

During a WABC radio interview with the New York businessman John Catsimatidis on "The Cats Roundtable," Petraeus — who also served as the director of the CIA in 2011 and 2012 — said that Putin was in an "irreversibly desperate" predicament, as Ukraine has been able to strategically utilize its capabilities in fighting back against Russia.

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"The bottom line is Ukraine has done vastly better than Russia has in mobilizing its capabilities in recruiting, training, equipping, help by the US and NATO nations big time, organizing, and employing additional forces and capabilities," he said.

He continued: "The result of that is that Ukraine is now taking back from Russia territory that Russian forces captured since the unprovoked invasion of February 24, and Russia is very much on the defensive, losing territory that they were able to seize earlier this year."

With the Ukrainian military's success in the Kharkiv region in September, Russia now controls less territory that it did after their initial foray into Ukraine earlier this year, according to a CNN analysis.

Petraeus during the interview was skeptical that Putin's efforts to change the trajectory of the conflict would prove to be successful.

"Putin has launched three initiatives to try to reverse the situation, none of which will be sufficient. He has declared a partial mobilization, supposedly of 300,000 former conscripts. This is not going to produce well-trained, well-equipped, cohesive troops and units," he said.

"It's going to produce cannon fodder. It may slow the advance of the Ukrainians, but I don't think it's going to reverse this stark reality he faces," he added.

Russia Ukraine
A destroyed Russian Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) is seen near the village of Nova Husarivka, Ukraine, on September 15, 2022.Gleb Garanich via Reuters

Petraeus said that world leaders should not downplay Putin's threats to utilize nuclear weapons in Ukraine in his bid to retain Russian territory, including the Russian-controlled regions that the Russian leader annexed last week.

Ultimately, Petraeus said that Putin's words should matter to the international community, but expects the Russian leader's heightened rhetoric to be "empty."

"The United States national security advisor publicly has said that he has communicated, our government has communicated, with the Russian government that the response to any use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic in nature to them," Petraeus said.

Putin on Friday announced that the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine had all voted to be annexed by Russia, but top world leaders have rejected the referendums, criticizing them as sham voting exercises that were controlled by Moscow.

President Joe Biden on Friday issued a severe condemnation of Putin's actions, calling the annexation referendum "phony."

"The United States condemns Russia's fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere," he said in a statement.

"We will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable. We will continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment it needs to defend itself, undeterred by Russia's brazen effort to redraw the borders of its neighbor," he added.

In March, Petraeus raised a siren on Russia's early stumbles in the war, stating during a CNN interview that Russian military forces were "just surprisingly unprofessional" in their efforts on the ground in Ukraine.

Read the original article on Business Insider