Former NATO Commander James Stavridis: Putin ‘Missed the Chance’ to Capture Ukraine

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and NBC News contributor James Stavridis revealed that, in his esteem, Russian President Vladimir Putin “missed the chance” to capture Ukraine.

During a Tuesday morning appearance on MSNBC, anchor Jose Diaz-Balart asked Stavridis whether Putin’s future is in jeopardy over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – which has not gone according to Russia’s plan, such as seeking to take over the capital Kyiv in a few days. Stavridis said Putin can survive even by being defeated by the Ukrainians.

“I think he can maintain his grip on power, but can he conquer all of Ukraine, can he kill [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, can he decapitate that regime?” said Stavridis on Jose Diaz-Balart Reports. “I think he’s missed the chance to do that, back to the [Biden] administration getting the weapons in hands of the Ukrainians in time to stop that.”

Stavridis cited explosions of an ammunition depot and Russian warplanes in Russia-occupied Crimea over the past week.

“Ten aircraft knocked out. It shows you how the Ukrainians are going on the offensive in the south. They’re going to put pressure on Crimea,” he said. “That’s going to be a difficult new resource problem that Putin is going to have to solve. I would not want Vladimir Putin’s hand of cards right now.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.