The war in Ukraine – Putin’s flaws:

After more than a month of war, Russia is struggling to make progress in Ukraine.

This led to the announcement of several Russian interventions.

The Russian Defense Command said on Tuesday He said Russian forces would “significantly reduce” attacks in northern Ukraine, and would withdraw some forces from areas around Kiev.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the decision to step aside from the attacks on the two Ukrainian cities was taken “to increase mutual trust so that a peace agreement can be negotiated and signed with Ukraine,” according to the Financial Times’ Moscow correspondent, Max Seddon.

– right

Earlier in the war, Russia announced a temporary ceasefire, but it did not comply.

The former chief of defense staff, Arne Bord Dalhaug, told Dagbladet that he believed the Russians’ warning to withdraw was real.

—But the reasoning they use is not correct, says Dalhaug.

This is justified by the fact that it has long been clear that things are going well for the Russian forces north of the capital, Kyiv, which have barely moved in recent weeks.

– Perhaps this is more than an attempt to camouflage a failed campaign, which they give Ukraine as an acceptance to start peace talks. This is a kind of Russian distortion of reality. It has been pointed out that this could happen.

On Monday, the Financial Times reported In the draft peace negotiations, Russia removed three of its previous major demands. “Disarmament,” “disarmament,” or legal protection of the Russian language inside Ukraine should not be on Russia’s list of demands.

lose face

Russia also allows Ukraine to become part of the European Union.

– This is not “goodwill” from Russia, but an acceptance of the truth on the ground in Ukraine, they are trying to pretend that it is a confession. These requirements were supposed to have been abandoned some time ago. Perhaps these were requirements that applied to the original plan, when Putin envisioned that the war could be won quickly, and he could set up a “puppet regime” in Kyiv, Dahlhog explains.

Is Putin losing face in this?

From the outside, it is clear that Putin has lost face in recent weeks. No one considers Russia’s position to be impressive anymore. The Russian army did not deliver as expected. They suffered heavy losses, looked unprofessional and uncoordinated. The question is how he can spin this internally, Dallhog answers.

changing strategy

He believes that Russia will continue to bomb civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine, but now they see negotiations as the way out of the war, and they have changed the strategy.

He notes that the Russians had lost and retreated in and around Kyiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, and the port city of Kherson they initially occupied.

– They will focus on preserving the regions in the south, Luhansk and the Donbass region. Dalhaug concludes that they are expected to reach their goals in Mariupol, and to be able to establish a land passage along the Sea of ​​Azov to the Crimea.