The war in Ukraine must end with strategic failure for Russia, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.

“[W]hat I will say is our position is that this has to end in a strategic failure for Russia, that no aggressor looking at this across the world thinks, ‘Oh that’s a good idea, I’m going to get what I want and not pay any price,’” Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

"Any negotiations must be a Ukrainian-led process because they’ve earned it.” Celeste Wallander added.