Putin does not plan negotiations and still believes he can crush Ukraine – CIA Director

CNN writes about it.

Burns stressed the importance of Ukraine’s planned offensive, saying “a great deal is at stake in the coming months.” Burns believes that it is Ukraine's progress on the battlefield that will be able to shape the "prospects of diplomacy."

"Instead of backing down, he has doubled down,” Burns said about Russian President, adding the Putin believes he can crush Ukraine and the West. 

The director of the CIA noted that Ukraine continues to defend Donbas, and according to one of the released intelligence documents, it is likely heading for a stalemate.

"Russia's grinding campaign of attrition in the Donbas region is likely heading toward a stalemate, thwarting Moscow's goal to capture the entire region in 2023," states the classified document.  

He emphasized the importance of further US support to Ukraine, particularly through the exchange of intelligence data.

"Putin was profoundly mistaken in his assumptions about Ukraine before the war. Real countries fight back," he said, noting that Ukraine and its president have done just that.

• Earlier, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said that a large-scale Ukrainian counteroffensive might begin in summer.

• US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin believes that Ukraine has enough resources to succeed in a counteroffensive.