Putin understands his window for waging war closes in 2026 – Ukrainian Lt. General

Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, founder of the Safe Skies over Ukraine Charitable Foundation and former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (2006–2010), shared his views with Espreso TV.

“About a month ago, President Zelenskyy sais that if current trends continue, serious problems could begin to emerge in the Russian economy by around June 2026. This could undermine the foundation for sustaining the war.

Putin is aware of this as well, he is being briefed by his economists. That’s likely why he is accelerating his actions, realizing that the window of opportunity to continue the war could close by 2026. However, many additional factors influence this timeline, including the position the United States takes toward both Ukraine and Russia,” Romanenko said.

According to the Lieutenant General, today, June 25, the NATO summit may clarify some of the next steps. He also emphasized the support of European countries that are trying to give Ukraine a real shoulder to stand on.

"Oil prices have now risen due to the war in the Middle East, and Russia's resource base may grow. But the war between Israel and Iran is likely to be stopped in the near future. The oil market has already reacted to Trump's call for a truce, although it has not yet been realized. Prices have begun to fall.

Therefore, the process is ongoing, everything is constantly changing, but the preliminary perspective looks like this," Romanenko added.

• Currently, the Russian military-industrial complex has reached its peak in armored vehicle production, a pace it can maintain for a year.