US assumes that Russia may be preparing another attack on Ukraine in coming weeks

This is reported by CNN.

The coming weeks will be "critical" in Russia's war against Ukraine, the White House official says. In America, it is assumed that Vladimir Putin "will try to mount another offensive and maybe along many different vectors."

"We have got to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine is ready for that," he said. 

According to the official, the US wants to “ensure Ukrainians can defend themselves against any renewed Russian offensive while also having the flexibility to conduct offensive operations of their own at a time and place and a size and a scale of their choosing." 

“That’s where we’re taking battalions out of Ukraine right now and putting them through combined arms maneuver training. That’s why they’re ramping up training on things like the Patriot air defense system. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that they’re ready as best they can be before these critical weeks and months ahead,” Kirby said. 

He also added that the Americans trust Ukraine's leadership in their priority of defending Bakhmut and will make sure President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has "what he needs, wherever he chooses to fight. That means intelligence. That means support. That means weapons. That means capabilities. That’s what we’re going to be focused on."

• Earlier, the commander of the AFU United Forces Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev said that Russia does not have the forces and means to conduct an offensive in other directions, except for those in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.