Lt Col Daniel Davis: Ukraine's Backers: They Should Know Better

Daniel Davis Deep Dive Merch: Etsy store

Petraeus returned from a Europe trip (Kyiv, Paris, Brussels, Warsaw) and visited units in Ukraine (praising the Nemesis unmanned unit and maritime drones). He says he felt better after the trip but then lays out worrying facts.

Key facts presented: Ukraine needs enormous funding (cited figure: $120 billion plus another $60 billion — urgent to keep the state and war effort running). Russia has massively expanded long-range attack drones (≈9× year-over-year) and reportedly recruited ~292,000 contract soldiers in 2025 (avg ~7,900/week).

The speaker argues these trends give Russia growing firepower and manpower advantages and allow formation of a strategic reserve, shifting the balance against Ukraine.

He is sharply critical of Western policy and analysts (singling out David Petraeus and the “foreign-policy elite”), accusing them of wishful thinking and of presenting a misleadingly optimistic narrative.

He rejects the idea that diplomacy with Putin will produce acceptable terms: Putin’s publicly stated maximal demands (territorial gains, replacement of Zelensky, “denazification,” demilitarization) are unacceptable to Ukraine and the West and, he says, Russia insists on them.

Examples of Russian assertiveness cited: airspace violations (Poland, Estonia, Romania) and public Russian communiqués reinforcing maximal goals.

Overall tone: bleak and blunt — the speaker concludes the West is clinging to an unrealistic hope, perhaps even “sinking,” while Ukraine is being asked to hold on despite worsening fundamentals.