Putin manically watches his back as Kremlin knives are being sharpened.

"In early November 1938, under the First Vienna Award, which was a result of the Munich agreement, Czechoslovakia—which had failed to reach a compromise with Hungary and Poland—had to cede after the arbitration of Germany and Italy awarded southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia to Hungary, while Poland invaded Trans-Olza territory shortly after." (Wikipedia)

Fast forward to 2023 and, as then reported by Nick Thorpe ,

" ... [Victor Orban's] (right) position is both pragmatic and constructive, although there is clearly personal antipathy between him and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky.  
...
Mr Orban seems rather more at ease with Vladimir Putin than with Mr Zelensky, and is the Russian leader's closest ally in the EU.
...
One senior Hungarian diplomat told the BBC that the conflict in Ukraine was "an inter-Slav civil war", illustrating a tendency in Mr Orban's governing Fidesz party to view the world in ethnic terms." (BBC News : 15 December 2023) (my emphasis)

Metaphorically holding aloft the flag of Hitler, and clutching in his right hand the First Vienna Award of  1938, Orban told Ukraine's President Zelensky that, as Csongor Körömi (left) reports,

"Ukraine should not wait for Moscow to withdraw its troops before starting peace talks, the Hungarian premier said on his surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán proposed the idea of an immediate cease-fire to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their negotiations in Kyiv, Orbán said following the talks. (Politico :2 July 2024) (my emphasis)

Interestingly, "Orbán's visit to Kyiv came a day after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU." (ibid Csongor Körömi)

Firstpost : 2 June 2024 : YouTube

No doubt, having been elevated to the presidency of the EU, Orban is viewing Putin's demand that the Ukrainian lands his Russian troops occupy be recognised as a part of Russsia in simlar vein to his own [Orban's] demand that the Hungarians in Ukraine be given near full-autonomy as a (hidden) prelude to being later incorporated into Hungary.

But against the background of this political chicanery of Orban, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali report that,

"The United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) said on Tuesday during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.

Austin also gave a nod to Ukraine's aspirations to eventually join NATO, more than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion. Referring to next week's NATO summit in Washington, he said, "We will take steps to build a bridge to NATO membership for Ukraine." ( Reuters : 2 July 2024) (my emphasis)

Furthermore,

• Ukraine has claimed to have put 1,100 Russian troops out of action in a single day.
  ...
  This figure rose by 1,100 since the previous update released on June 30. The General Staff's estimates are for Russian soldiers either killed or wounded in Ukraine. (Alice Scarsi:Express: 1 July 2024) (my emphasis)
•  As reported by Iona Cleave, "A large fire broke out at a suspected Russian air base in the city of Kursk, close to the border with Ukraine, on Tuesday.
  
  Local officials said that over 60 firefighters battled the unexplained blaze at the site of what is believed to be the Central Aviation Technical Base.". (Telegraph on Microsoft Start: 2 July 2024) (my emphasis)
• Yuliia Dysa reports that, "Ukraine's air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said on Tuesday the military had carried out a "destructive strike" on a Russian ammunition depot in Moscow-occupied Crimea on Monday". (Reuters : 2 July 2024) (my emphasis)
• Mariya Knight and Lex Harvey report that, " Ukraine has foiled an alleged plot to overthrow the government that “would have played into Russia’s hands,” security officials in the war-torn country said Monday.
  
  In a Telegram post, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed the plot organizers planned to trigger a riot in Kyiv on June 30 as a distraction to seize control of the Ukrainian parliament and remove the military and political leadership from power." (CNN: 3 July 2024) (my emphasis)
• Czech firm 'UAC', as reported by Defense Mirror, intends to produce hundreds of attack and reconnossaince drones for the army of Ukraine. (Defence Mirror : 3 July 2024) (my emphasis)
  

 Underscoring the pressure under which Putin's Russian forces in Ukraine are suffering from, 

"North Korea is believed to be sending thousands of tunnelling troops to help Russia open a new ‘underground front’ on the Ukraine border.

 Military engineers are being sent by Kim Jong Un ostensibly to help Russia with “restoration work” in the Donbas - but Kyiv suspects that they are being sent for a military ulterior purpose." (Will Stewart: Mirror: 2 July 2024) (my emphasis)

Furthermore, as reported by Kateryna Hodunova (left),

"Ukraine will not compromise its values or territorial integrity to end the war with Russia, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak told reporters on July 3, commenting on statements by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump" (Kyiv Independent on Yahoo News: 3 Jly 2024) (my emphasis)

As the French, British, and US elections loom, Putin is wilting under the pressures in the Kremlin.

Like his deluded ideas about recreating "Novorossiya" in those parts of Ukraine which his army is failing to hold onto, Putin is being forced to manically watch his back as Kremlin knives are being sharpened.

 

 

 

(to be continued)