Putin has a gift that any Russian leader could only hope for.

From a military perspective, Kyiv is not having as much trouble in the conflict in Ukraine.

Since late November, Russian territorial advances on the ground have slowed to a crawl, and they are losing an average of 1,500 troops per day as a result.

They have nearly, but not quite, captured Toretsk. Additionally, Russian soldiers are remained outside of Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar, two additional crucial strategic cities, after being on the edge of overrunning them for months.

Although this has been by far the most difficult winter of Russia’s air war against Ukraine, Kyiv has not been brought to its knees by Russia’s huge air bombing campaign on the Ukrainian power grid, its vital infrastructure, and civilian targets.

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Additionally, Ukraine has maintained its key commerce routes from the ports of Odesa to the Mediterranean and the Danube Basin by driving the Russian navy out of its western seas in the Black Sea. Ukraine has definitely prevailed in this geopolitical conflict.

However, with so much material support from China, North Korea, and Iran, Russia is clearly ready to continue the fight, even if its own economy is expected to be somewhat unstable by the end of this year based on present trends.

Ukraine could continue if it were willing to fight, despite having a smaller personnel pool, if Western nations, especially the United States, maintained their prior levels of assistance.

However, the battlefield has lost much of its significance. The political landscape has drastically changed under Kyiv and its main European supporters.

The United States appears to have abruptly changed its stance under President Trump, pressuring Ukraine into a ‘peace deal’ that is supposedly happening very quickly. Top US decision-makers appear to want to offer Moscow more than it could have imagined when its “special military operation” in Ukraine went so horribly wrong three years ago, but serious talks have not yet started.