Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed, as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for talks in St. Petersburg. Putin replied, “It exists, but it has failed.”Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive started in June. During the meeting, Lukashenko also made a jocular remark about the Wagner Group, a paramilitary unit that is now training Belarusian special forces. Last week, Belarus’ Defence Ministry said that Wagner Group had started training Belarusian special forces at a military range near the Polish border. The Russian president warned Poland on Friday that he would consider any aggression against Belarus as an attack on Russia.
