The US believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being "misinformed" by his advisers about the course of hostilities in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy.
This is reported by CNN with reference to one of the US officials.
According to a US official, Putinʼs senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth. The official stated the assessment is based on declassified US intelligence findings.
The official added that the US has information indicating that Putin has become aware of the misinformation, leading to a rift between Putin and his top defense officials.
"We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military. There is now persistent tension between Putin and the Russiaʼs Ministry of Defense, stemming from Putinʼs mistrust in MOD leadership", the US official said.