Putin expects Russian army to seize Donbas by end of 2026, Reuters reports

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin believes the Russian army will capture the Donbas region by the end of 2026, according to Reuters, citing a source close to the Kremlin. The source stated that no agreement on the front line is possible until Putin completes the capture of the remaining part of Donetsk Oblast, a goal he expects to achieve by year's end. Western military analysts consider this outcome unlikely given the slow pace of Russian advances, while Ukraine has rejected such territorial concessions as tantamount to surrender. The remarks came ahead of talks in Moscow on September 5 between Putin and US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which lasted over three hours. The Kremlin called the meeting substantive and frank, but Bloomberg reports that previous visits have yielded no results and Moscow shows no sign of abandoning its military objectives. Witkoff and Kushner plan to visit Kyiv on September 6.