At the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, President Joe Biden declared America would support Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” and he declared that such support would leave “Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger.” Three years later, however, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reenter the White House, it is becoming painfully obvious that the policies Biden employed produced nearly the opposite outcome.

Instead of imposing a strategic defeat on Moscow and a victory for Kyiv, Ukraine is at real risk of suffering an outright military defeat.

Last September, after sending Ukraine thousands of American combat vehicles, millions of rounds of ammunition, and over $100 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars, U.S. Air Force General James Heckler admitted that despite such extraordinary expenditures, the Russian military had become bigger, stronger, and more capable than it was in 2022. That is an astounding confession. It is also unsurprising.

It is not merely important, but a paramount obligation for any American president to soberly assess any situation from the framework of “ends and means.” It is not enough to merely state a preferred outcome – “weakening Russia” in this case – but to make certain we have the means to bring that end to successful fruition.