Why the Biden Administration should publicly clarify its war goals in Ukraine (in two short quotes)

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (April 2022):

“We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory. We want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine.” [my emphasis]

Andriy Zagorodnyuk in Foreign Affairs 01/02/2023:

Russia’s military footprint [in Crimea] is actually a reason to fight for Crimea, since a battle over the territory would seriously degrade Russia’s ability to wage war and terrorize Ukraine and other states. [my emphasis]

Is that the US goal in this war? Because if it is, refusal of any serious peace agreement before that goal is fully achieved would be one of the obvious implications.

And, meanwhile, we’re gearing up for war with China over Taiwan?

Congress and the public really need to be asking some serious questions.