U.S. military assistance, another $60 billion of which was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April, is arriving as Ukraine faces a Russian offensive that could determine the "character" of the war, Can Kasapoğlu, a senior and political- military affairs expert at the Hudson Institute, told ABC News.
Gen. C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that Russia's new offensive "aim[s] to establish a shallow buffer zone along the Ukrainian border."
"Russia anticipates that this will divert Ukrainian focus and capabilities from other critical areas," he said.
Kharkiv was recaptured by Ukraine in a fall 2022 counteroffensive after Russia took the city in its initial invasion in February 2022.
Russia has not breached the Ukrainian front line, but Kasapoğlu said the front line is not stabilized, leaving doubt as to whether Ukraine can hold the city if Russia mounts an effort to take it.