Russian-born former U.S. intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler said Friday on Newsmax that Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to exhaust Ukraine’s resistance, keep seized territories, and install a pro-Russian government in Kyiv to prevent NATO membership.
“Putin’s Playbook” author Rebekah Koffler said that Putin’s strategy in Ukraine is to “break down the Ukrainians’ will to fight” until Kyiv capitulates.
Appearing on “American Agenda” as President Donald Trump and Putin met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for the Alaska 2025 summit, Koffler said Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukraine, including Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, as well as Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
“The Russians want that territory because it’s a very strategic area,” Koffler said. “In Donetsk, there’s large deposits of rare earth minerals. Those are the minerals that President Trump wanted to include and actually concluded the agreement with Zelenskyy for us to help extract and to benefit from. While the Russians very swiftly took control over that territory.”
She noted that the region also has fertile agricultural land and critical ports, such as those in Kherson, that Ukraine can no longer use for exports.
“They're working on getting Sumy. They're working, actually, potentially to get even Odesa because it's a port. So, Kherson right now they control that territory, and the Ukrainians are not able to use those ports to get their grains out so that they can continue feeding their economy. Their economy is in crisis, because the Russians have made it nearly impossible for Ukraine to survive, you know, both because they're striking their critical infrastructure.”
Putin’s broader goal, Koffler said, is not full annexation but strategic control. “Putin… wants to have entire Ukraine as part of Russia’s strategic security perimeter,” she said.
“But … he wants to break down the Ukrainians’ will to fight so that Ukraine capitulates. He keeps those territories, and then he installs a pro-Russian government in Kyiv so that it doesn’t pose the perceived threat to Russia. And he doesn’t want Ukraine in NATO.”
Koffler expressed doubt about the prospects for Trump’s peace plan. “It is seemingly unachievable,” she said, predicting Putin would “play hardball” in talks.
“Strategically, Putin and Trump are on the same page, meaning they want to repair the relationship because Russia is a nuclear power. Several times during this conflict, we came this close to nuclear war. President Trump wants to avoid that. That's why he wants to stop the killing,” she said.
“But in terms of the actual peace in Ukraine, that is the stumbling point in my assessment: if Putin plays hardball, which he will, I'm afraid Trump may kick him out of this meeting.”
The Friday Alaska summit began with a warm handshake between Trump and Putin on a stage flanked by U.S. fighter jets. Hours of discussions on Ukraine and the future of U.S.-Russia relations are planned.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.