Despite President Trump’s stalled efforts to broker peace and Russia’s planned summer offensive, analysis by Michael Kimmage (Kennan Institute) suggests the military tide in Ukraine may be turning against Moscow.

Eastern Ukraine has been contested territory since 2014, when Russian-backed fighters seized large swathes of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russia had already seized the southern peninsula of Crimea in February 2014 before annexing it soon afterwards.

A leading Vladimir Putin propagandist has threatened the USA with a "nuclear tsunami" that will "blow the country to hell" in a vicious rant on Russian television. Throughout the Ukraine war, Putin has repeatedly engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling in an attempt to deter Western countries from providing military support to Ukraine.