Meanwhile British intelligence says Russian troops in Ukraine are demoralized, short of equipment and refusing to carry out orders.

Mr Putin is also not being told about the full impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, the White House said.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on the assessments.

White House spokesperson Kate Bedingfield said the US had information that Mr. Putin “felt misled by the Russian military” and this had resulted in “persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership”.

“Putin’s war has been a strategic blunder that has left Russia weaker over the long term and increasingly isolated on the world stage,” she said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby called the assessments “discomforting” because an uninformed Putin could result in a “less than faithful” effort at ending the conflict through peace negotiations.

“The other thing is, you don’t know how a leader like that is going to react to getting bad news,” he said.

Ukrainian forces have begun attempts to retake some areas from Russia, which on Tuesday said it would scale back operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.

Jeremy Fleming, the head of the UK’s cyber-intelligence agency GCHQ, said the move added to indications Russia had “massively misjudged the situation” and had been forced to “significantly rethink”.

“We’ve seen Russian soldiers – short of weapons and morale – refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft,” Mr. Fleming said in a speech to the Australian National University in Canberra.

“And even though Putin’s advisers are afraid to tell him the truth, what’s going on and the extent of these misjudgments must be crystal clear to the regime.”

On the ground, US and Ukrainian officials say Russia is continuing to reposition forces away from Kyiv, probably as part of its effort to refocus on eastern regions.

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to restart online on 1 April, according to Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia.

In an online post cited by Reuters, Mr Arakhamia said Ukraine had proposed the leaders of both countries meet, but Russia declined, saying more work was needed on a draft treaty.

Mr. Zelensky meanwhile characterized the talks as “only words, no specifics yet”, following a similarly downbeat assessment from Russia.

Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv held three hours of discussions in Istanbul on Tuesday. Ukraine said it had proposed to become a neutral state in exchange for security guarantees.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60936117

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The State Department on Friday refused to detail what “red lines” the U.S. would draw with respect to China’s support for Russia amid its deadly invasion in Ukraine.

President Biden warned Chinese President Xi Jinping in a call Friday morning that there would be “consequences” if Beijing provides Moscow with “material support” while Russia continues its deadly campaign against its southern neighbor.

But when pressed by reporters as to what “red lines” the White House would draw the State Department was light on answers.

“I wouldn’t want to get into any hypotheticals,” deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said. “What we have done is we’ve encouraged our allies and partners and the international community to band together to condemn this senseless war that Russia has gotten itself into. I have nothing else here at this time.”

China has drawn international ire for its refusal to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

A readout from the Chinese government following the call with Biden once again fell short of criticizing Putin’s actions and instead said, “China stands for peace and opposes war.”

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/syria-fighters-ukraine-russian-recruiting-attempt-centcom

The statement said that Xi made clear that China advocates for adhering to international law and charters established under the United Nations.

But Xi apparently also called on the U.S. and NATO to “jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue” to end the war.

China has been widely criticized for its refusal to join the U.S. and NATO, along with nations like Japan, Australia and New Zealand, to hit Moscow with steeper sanctions in an attempt to staunch Russian advances.

Putin claimed in the lead-up to his attack that he was concerned over a growing NATO presence in Europe and attempts by Ukraine to join the 30-member alliance, which would have theoretically permitted military equipment to be closer to Russian borders.

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The U.S. and European officials have dismissed this argument and pointed to a series of steps that Ukraine would have needed to accomplish in order to join NATO.

But China has given credence to Putin’s concerns. On Friday, Xi argued the U.S. and NATO should hold talks “with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.”

Source: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-dept-refuses-red-line-china-russia-ukraine

The post State Dept. refuses to detail ‘red line’ if China provides support to Russia amid war in Ukraine first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.