Fighting in Ukraine has been slowing down, US intelligence agencies believe.
Fighting in Ukraine will slow down over the winter months
Director of intelligence Avril Haines thinks that the trend is likely to continue during the winter months as both sides try to "refit, resupply and reconstitute" for any counter-offensives in the spring.
Haines told a defence forum in California that most of the fighting is now happening around the Bakhmut and Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
She explained how fighting had slowed down after Russian troops withdrew troops from the Kherson region last month.
Haines told panel chair Andrea Mitchell of NBC News: "We're seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict... and we expect that's likely to be what we see in the coming months."
Haines expects troops from both Russia and Ukraine to prepare for a counter-offensive after the winter months have passed.
She added: "But we actually have a fair amount of scepticism as to whether or not the Russians will be, in fact, prepared to do that.
"I think more optimistically for the Ukrainians in that time frame."
Haines claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not have a clear picture of just how challenged his military is at the moment.
She said: "We see shortages of ammunition, for morale, supply issues, logistics, a whole series of concerns that they're facing."