A Russian political scientist has told state television that President Vladimir Putin will not live to see the end of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if the war continues at the current speed.

During a talk show aired on Sunday evening, Sergey Mikheyev said if Russia keeps fighting “at this speed” then the war will “last for decades”.

The TV pundit said: “If we keep proceeding in this manner and at this speed, you and I won’t live long enough to see any successes,” he told the TV host.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves. Our leadership won’t live long enough for that either.

“If we move at this speed, this will last for decades or some kind of decision might be made that will be hard to portray as a success, it’s obvious.”

He added: “There are things we could be easily solving, like blocking the ability of Western politicians to travel [to Ukraine], as I’ve said many times before.”

He said trips to Ukraine by Western world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, provide “serious support” to Ukrainian society and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We either move forward and stop imitating sovereignty and truly achieve success, or we retreat with a massive failure,” Mr Mikheyev said.

He added that he feared China would become the “leader of the world” outside of the West.

“It will be all the more difficult for Russia to integrate into this situation,” he warned.