Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, joined the Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion titled “The Struggles of Russian Military in Ukraine.” During the event, Breedlove provided insight into why he believes it is that many have called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a failure so far.

Breedlove suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had either been ill-advised or had made poor decisions when staging his initial attack on Ukraine, as the Kremlin mistakenly had assumed they would quickly capture the capital city of Kyiv.

“When you start such a big operation, and you’ve done that on false assumptions… it’s hard to recover,” Breedlove said.

The former supreme allied commander of NATO also mentioned that before the invasion began, the West was too focused on Russian troop buildup at the border and didn’t pay enough attention to the Ukrainian military’s preparations to stave off an attack. He praised the West for its unification since the invasion began and noted that an increased NATO presence in Eastern Europe — as well as Sweden and Finland potentially joining — is exactly what Russia had hoped to avoid.

Watch the full panel on the Council on Foreign Relations’ YouTube page.