Russia: Putin hosts Lukashenko, calls Ukraine counter-offensive a failure
July 23 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's counteroffensive "has failed" as he hosted Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, his close ally, for talks in St Petersburg on Sunday.
"There is no counteroffensive," Russian news agencies quoted Lukashenko as saying.
Putin replied: "It exists, but it has failed."
Ukraine began its long-anticipated counter-offensive last month but has so far made only small gains against well entrenched Russian forces who control more than a sixth of its territory after nearly 17 months of war.