US intelligence is divided in its assessment of Russia's military potential in Donbas – Axios
Pokrovsk (Illustrative photo: Donetsk Regional Military Administration)

Estimates from US intelligence regarding Russia's ability to seize Donetsk Oblast to its administrative borders vary. This is... reports Axios, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.

One assessment claims that the Russian army could seize the entire Donbas region by October 2025. Another considers the Russian military potential unconvincing and predicts a much more difficult struggle with an unpredictable outcome.

According to a source cited by the publication, at the meeting in Alaska, the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin Initially, he put forward maximalist demands and was unwavering, therefore the US President Donald Trump "was ready to leave".

"If Donetsk is important, and if there are no concessions, we simply shouldn't drag this out," the source quoted the American president as saying.

But then Putin allegedly softened his stance.

That's why the Trump administration continued to implement a strategy where Trump alternately meets separately with Putin and the president. by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in order to subsequently arrange a trilateral meeting and conclude a peace agreement.

  • On August 15, Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, warned / prewarned / pre-warnedthat the goal of the Russian dictator remains the military and political capitulation of Ukraine.