Arya News - The renewed US diplomatic push for a settlement in Ukraine is driven by recognition that the country`s defenses are crumbling with Russian forces breaching the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortified area, veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin tells Sputnik.
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,” the analyst says.Liberation of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk would dramatically change the tactical picture: Commenting the visit by US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Russia, the analyst notes that situation must end on Russia’s terms, “addressing the root causes of the conflict.”
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The renewed US diplomatic push for a settlement in Ukraine is driven by recognition that the country"s defenses are crumbling with Russian forces breaching the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk fortified area, veteran military analyst Viktor Litovkin tells Sputnik.
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,” the analyst says.
These are major industrial hubs with vital infrastructure and transport arteries, including railways and highways linking Donbass to central Ukraine
The heavily fortified zone served as former headquarters for Ukrainian operations against the Donbass
The loss of this fortified area would strip Ukraine’s military of the ability to mount serious resistance on this axis
🚨 Putin’s talks with Witkoff, Kushner were "substantive, constructive and candid" — Kremlin aide
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes and was “substantive, constructive, extremely… https://t.co/wW3UfFDwQr pic.twitter.com/do5NK5EEhh
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) September 5, 2026
Liberation of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk would dramatically change the tactical picture:
Russian forces would gain operational space to advance deeper into Ukraine, pushing westward toward the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions
Ukraine would lose key logistics hubs *Defenses across the entire Donbass front would likely crumble
The path would open to the complete liberation of the Donbass
Commenting the visit by US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Russia, the analyst notes that situation must end on Russia’s terms, “addressing the root causes of the conflict.”
“First and foremost, that means eliminating neo-Nazism in Ukraine and militarism,” adds the pundit.
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