The White House stated on Wednesday, 30 March, that Russian President Vladimir Putin was being misled by his advisers in the Kremlin as they were too scared to tell him how poorly the Russian troops were faring in Ukraine and about the extent of the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy.
The Kremlin is yet to comment on the White House's statement.
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield was quoted by Reuters as saying, "We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership."
"We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth," she added.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the assessments were "discomforting" because Putin not being told the truth could impact the peace negotiations.
Nevertheless, the US seems to have some strategy behind making this statement.
An official told Reuters that this announcement was "potentially useful".
"Does it sow dissension in the ranks? It could make Putin reconsider whom he can trust," the official added.
Intelligence provided by the UK government says that Russian troops in Ukraine are lacking both equipment and morale, and are often refusing to obey their generals.
In addition to this, according to Ukrainian officials, seven Russian generals have died in the war as of now. You can read more about that here.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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