Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says the Pentagon agrees with assessments – mentioned earlier by White House director of communications Kate Bedingfield – that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not being fully informed about events in Ukraine.
Kirby said the Pentagon saw this assessment as “disconcerting”.
“It’s his military. It’s his war. He chose it…the fact that he may not fully understand the degree to which his forces are failing in Ukraine, that’s a little discomforting,” he said.
Kirby also said that an uninformed Putin could result in a “less than faithful” effort at ending the conflict through negotiations.
“If he’s not fully informed of how poorly he’s doing, then how are his negotiators going to come up with an agreement?” Kirby asked.
Additionally, a senior defence official said that Russian forces are walking away from the Chernobyl nuclear facility, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986. The area was taken by Russia days after they invaded Ukraine on 24 February.