Russia is in a stronger position and is winning on the battlefield, while the North Atlantic Alliance has nothing meaningful to counter it with, according to military expert and retired US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter.

In his view, the Ukrainian conflict is now entering a new phase. Russia, he said, has managed to stabilize its economy, build diplomatic ties abroad and form a multipolar response to United States hegemony.

Ritter said Russia is currently in an extremely strong diplomatic and economic position and is gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.

He noted that NATO today is too weak an alliance to confront Moscow.

According to Ritter, NATO has neither the resources nor the capacity to take real action against Russia. He described statements by Western politicians as empty rhetoric without a real material or industrial base behind it.

Ritter concluded that there is no doubt Russia will win this conflict.