Russia’s advantage on battlefield is waning, and Putin is putting pressure on Ukraine to negotiate on his terms, - Washington Post
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is facing domestic and international pressure due to the apparent failure of his military plans in Ukraine. The offensive by the occupying forces has finally reached a dead end, the Kremlin’s financial resources are rapidly running out, and regular precision strikes by Ukrainian long-range UAVs on Russian territory are causing serious discontent among ordinary Russians.
The American newspaper The Washington Post reports on this, citing comments from Russian and European officials as well as leading geopolitical analysts, according to Censor.NET.
Putin is pushing for a resumption of negotiations
Journalists note the obvious fact: since Moscow has failed to achieve any of its military objectives, "Putin desperately needs a way out" of the situation.
Indeed, European officials interviewed on condition of anonymity note that Russia’s recent massive strikes on Ukrainian cities are not a sign of strength, but a direct consequence of Russia’s deep-seated military and economic problems. In this way, the Kremlin is attempting to force the resumption of peace talks and pressure Ukraine into making concessions on its own terms.
Signs of a serious rift and discontent are growing within the upper echelons of the Russian political establishment. Recently, an article was published in one of the main mouthpieces of Russian foreign policy stating that Putin’s military objectives are completely unattainable.
Tetyana Stanova, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Berlin Center, emphasizes that Russia’s military advantage is beginning to erode. According to her, the Kremlin’s current chaotic escalation is "the only way to respond to a situation that Putin is no longer able to control."
"May has come to an end, and it is clear that unless additional efforts are made, we can only speak of stagnation," the publication quotes a Russian scholar close to the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying, who acknowledged that Putin's dreams of capturing the Donetsk region "in a few months" have completely failed.
He also added that the missile strikes by Russia are a panicked reaction not only to the recent strike on a college housing occupiers in Starobilsk, but also to the rapid expansion of the range of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes.
Blackmail by Trump and the threat of a new mobilization
Russian analysts note that Moscow is currently counting on using the tactic of intimidation through escalation to pressure the U.S. into negotiations. The Kremlin hopes that Donald Trump’s administration will pressure Volodymyr Zelenskyy and force the Ukrainian Armed Forces to withdraw from the territories of Donbas not yet captured by the enemy, a region that has become Putin’s primary obsession.
However, Western officials warn that any pause or withdrawal of troops from Donbas would only give Putin the opportunity to rearm and attempt to seize even more Ukrainian territory in the future.
- Human resources remain a particular bottleneck for the Kremlin. According to European sources, given the current rapid rate at which the occupiers are being lost on the front lines, Putin will be forced to announce a new open wave of mobilization as early as this fall, immediately following the parliamentary elections in Russia.
However, due to a panic-stricken fear of domestic protests, the Kremlin will most likely be forced to simply suspend or freeze its offensive campaign. Even Western officials, who had previously been skeptical about Ukraine’s chances, now unanimously agree that the strategic situation is shifting against the Russian dictator.
