U.S. intelligence agencies believe that fighting in Ukraine is slowing down and will likely continue into the coming winter months.
However, there was no evidence of resistance from Ukrainian forces easing, US Director of Intelligence Everel Haynes said.
He said both sides would try to “rebuild, resupply and reconfigure” for any counteroffensive in the spring.
This follows Russian attacks on Ukraine’s vital energy infrastructure.
The war in Ukraine is now in its ninth month, but Russia has lost more than half of its territory.
Ms Haynes told a defense forum in California that most of the fighting is currently taking place in the Bakhmut and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine.
He said fighting had subsided after Russia withdrew troops from the west of the Kherson region last month.
“We’re already seeing a kind of de-escalation of conflicts … and we expect that to continue in the coming months,” he said.
He said that both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries would be ready for any counterattack after the winter.
“But we actually have a lot of skepticism as to whether or not the Russians would actually be willing to do that,” he said.
“I think more optimistically for Ukrainians in this time frame.”
Ms Haynes said US intelligence believes Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have a full picture at this stage of how much of a challenge his military poses.
“We’re looking at ammunition shortages, morale, logistical issues, logistics, a whole series of concerns that they’re facing.”
