Defense Secretary Austin's plan to weaken Russia could be a Ukraine game changer

On Monday morning in Poland, after his visit to Kyiv, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin laid down a new take on Russia with these six words: "We want to see Russia weakened."

Now Austin must deliver on enough military assistance, training and tactical coaching for Ukraine to maul Russia’s forces.    Tetyana Boikiv, 52, right, meets and hugs her neighbour Svitlana Pryimachenko, 48, during a funeral service for her husband, Mykola Moroz, 47, at the Ozera village, near Bucha, Ukraine on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. Mykola was captured by Russian army from his house in the Ozera village on March 13, taken for several weeks in an unknown location and finally found killed with gunshots about 15 kilometres from his house.  ((AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)) Local resident Oksana walks through the destroyed second floor of her multi-generational home while searching for salvageable items on Monday, April 25 in Hostomel, Ukraine, outside of Kyiv. ((John Moore/Getty Images)) A Ukrainian serviceman walks amid the rubble of a building heavily damaged by multiple Russian bombardments near a frontline in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2022.  ((AP Photo/Felipe Dana)) An armed serviceman of Donetsk People's Republic militia walks past a building damaged during fighting in Mariupol on Wednesday. (AP/Alexei Alexandrov) A fallen rocket that was fired from Kherson but got intercepted by Ukrainian forces remains unexploded in the street in Mykolaiv, Ukraine on April 4. (Andre Luis Alves/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Looks like the Pentagon finally found its sense of urgency, and then some. On Tuesday, Austin hosted 40 nations at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to line up more military aid for Ukraine.