Ukraine-Russia war latest: Putin victory on battlefield ‘not inevitable’ as Kremlin rages over ‘unacceptable’ leak
A Russian victory is not inevitable, according to new data released by the Institute for the Study of War.
“The reality on the battlefield indicates that a Russian victory in Ukraine is far from certain,” the report said, adding that a “rapid Russian seizure of the rest of Donetsk Oblast is not imminent”.
It comes as Donald Trump’s son defended his father’s envoy Steve Witkoff over leaked conversations where he appears to coach Russian officials on how to handle the US president.
The leak of the call to Bloomberg News has not gone down well in Russia, with the Kremlin calling it “unacceptable” and “clearly aimed” at hindering the peace talks.
The White House has not disputed the leaked transcript, and Donald Trump Jr defended Witkoff’s methods as “classic negotiation techniques to butter up his counterpart”.
“It’s almost like these media and deep state morons have never successfully negotiated a deal in the real world. It’s pretty obvious that nearly all of Witkoff’s critics want any sort of Ukraine peace deal to fail so they can continue this war endlessly,” he said in a post.
