UK Analyst Says Putin 'Out of Ideas' On Ukraine

Vladimir Putin seems like he’s “completely out of ideas” about the war in Ukraine, one prominent analyst said after the Russian President’s Victory Day speech in Moscow on Monday, Brad Lendon reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Russian President Vladimir Putin shirtless while fishing

“Either doesn’t now understand the reality of the situation in Ukraine, or willfully ignoring it,” Phillips O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said of Putin in a Twitter post.

Speculation before the speech was that Putin might formally declare war on Ukraine or order a mass mobilization of Russian forces to prosecute the war that has now stretched into its third month, with heavy Russian losses.

While Putin blamed NATO and the West for forcing him to invade Ukraine to protect Russian interests, he didn’t offer any idea of what would be considered a victory or any ways to prosecute the war further.

“Without concrete steps to build a new force, Russia can’t fight a long war, and the clock starts ticking on the failure of their army in Ukraine,” O’Brien said.

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