It is no longer certain that Russian forces will launch a full-scale assault on Kyiv, western officials have said, raising doubts for the first time since the war began over whether Moscow is prepared to pay the huge costs any such attack would incur.
Western officials have been saying until recently that a push on the Ukrainian capital on a huge scale seemed inevitable, with one stating last week that Russian troops are “continuing to tighten the noose” around Kyiv, and that “they are still set on moving in, we’re reasonably confident. It’ll be utterly horrific when they do”.
