Putin says he is winning in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin carried out his now legendary annual press conference today which went on for hours. There is no question that he sounds in an ebullient mood. He believes he is winning in Ukraine and says he has no interest in any peace settlement until he has achieved all of his military ohjectives, one of which is denazification whatever that means. It sounds like a reason for Putin never to give up in Ukraine but to plough on for ever. The fact that he thinks he is winning is worrying but also probably true. Apart from the battlefield stalemate which is likely to last all winter, Putin will be loving reading about the disenchantment in the Republican party in the US Congress. Everything Putin had planned for is now happening. The great 50-nation coalition helping Ukraine is beginning to fall apart, largely because Kyiv has failed to win back much territory. So the dream of driving every Russian soldier out of Ukraine and back over the border into Russia is getting more and more unrealistic. And if the US and its European partners start to waver over sending more munitions, the result will mean victory for Putin and disastrous defeat for Zelensky. Ukraine cannot survive without western help. So we have genuinely reached a pivotal moment in the war in Ukraine. If the West cold-shoulders Kyiv, Putin will be able to claim a victory and will be an ever-present danger to other countries in the region.