RUSSIA cannot win the war in Ukraine, according to the former head of the Army.

General Lord Dannatt told GB News: “Where we are at the present moment is that Ukraine is now benefiting considerably from the Western supply of arms and ammunition and, critically, training.

“A large number of Ukrainian troops are being trained in this country, in the United Kingdom at the present moment.

“We’ve seen the success of the long range rocket systems. We’re showing pictures of those systems now and what this has meant is that the Ukrainians military capability has increased considerably.

“They’re able to contain Russian advances in the Donbass area in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces and I think it’s fair to say that there’s something of an operational pause going on at the present moment.”

Speaking in an interview during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Rosie Wright on GB News, he said: “The Ukrainians are consolidating their additional strength, they’re preparing for a significant counter offensive, which will be a slow burn counter offensive in the Kherson area in the south of the country.

“And concerned about that, the Russians have been moving a number of troops from elsewhere in Donbass to counter that Ukrainian counter offensive.

“These moves are preliminary at the present moment. They will come to a much more explosive head at some point in the not too distant future.

“I suppose it’s not surprising that as the lack of major action or the present moment, the story of Ukraine has slipped down the news agenda, but believe me, it will go back up there again.”

Lord Dannatt added: “What’s increasingly important, and of course I should say that the issues around the nuclear plant as a feature are extremely worrying and are extremely important.

“But over time, there will have to be a return to negotiation between Ukraine and Russia, mediated by a third party because I think the reality whichever one’s going to have to come to accept is that Russia will not win as far as Ukraine is concerned, Russia will not be able to capture the whole of Ukraine.

“Ukraine will probably never be strong enough to throw the Russians completely out of Donbass and the Crimea, so the new normal in Ukraine is probably going to be that some 15 to 20% of that country is permanently occupied by the Russians.

“And that’s going to have to be the basis for negotiations in the future. So this story, which has been really violent over the last six months, has got more violence to come, I’m afraid, but actually, it’s going to be a long story.

“Ultimately, it’ll end in negotiations which will satisfy no party, but at the end of the day, some form of peace has got to be restored to Ukraine, so the majority of that country can be rebuilt and Ukraine can have a meaningful, purposeful future.”