Russia is much larger in military and economic terms, but it lacks the quality that Ukraine enjoys, Lt. General Douglas Lute, US Permanent Representative to NATO (2013-2017) is convinced.

He expressed this idea at the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.
“In military science, they often say that quality can defeat quantity. Smaller, more trained and skilled troops, as history tells us, have often defeated the outnumbering military forces.

“Indeed, Russia is much larger both in terms of its militarily and economics, but it fails to possess what Ukraine enjoys to the fullest. And I expect that Ukraine’s quality overcome Russia’s quantity,” Douglas Lute emphasized.

He noted that Ukrainian intelligence services, its government, and the military all serve a faithful reflection of Ukrainian society, and “this gives Ukraine an asymmetric advantage." Similarly, Putin’s army is a reflection of the Russian society, permeated with abject corruption, Lt. General claimed.

“On the Ukrainian side, we see innovation, adaptability, identity. We don’t see this with Putin. And this gives me hope that quality in Ukraine will outweigh quantity in the Russian Federation,” he concluded.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.