Vladimir Putin is already concentrating only on capturing as much of the Ukrainian territory as possible and has lost interest in a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. He does not see perspective in him. Referring to three sources familiar with the Russian president’s talks with those around him, the Financial Times (FT) reports.
“Putin sincerely believes in the nonsense he hears on (Russian) television and wants a big win,” the newspaper quoted one of its sources as saying. The president, even in private, despite evidence to the contrary, insists that Russia in Ukraine will not attack civilian targets.
The head of the Kremlin allegedly initially considered the peace agreement, but lost interest in it. He was especially outraged by the sinking of the Russian cruiser Moscow. “After Moscow, he no longer looks like a winner because it was humiliating,” the source added.
And Putin’s goal is to look like a winner. There have been repeated reports that he wants to style himself this way on Victory Day on May 9 – he will simply find a “success” in Ukraine that he will be able to present to the Russians as a win.
Both Ukrainian and Western officials have always expressed doubts that Russia is serious about the negotiations. After all, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at the first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since the beginning of the war in early March that his counterpart was not very willing to agree. “We have not made progress because it seems that someone else is deciding on it,” he said at the time.
And most recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke skeptically about Russia’s willingness to negotiate. “Their actions show that the negotiation process has so far been fiction and political theater,” he said at a briefing in the Kiev metro, referring to Russia’s ongoing attacks on civilians.
Despite this, Zelensky emphasized that diplomacy was the only way to stop killing Ukrainians and that he was determined to continue. According to him, the only solution is the one who started the war.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian president has clearly defined the circumstances in which Kyiv will leave the talks – killing the last defenders of Mariupol and holding a “referendum” on the independence of other Russian-occupied regions.
It is Ukraine that built the wall
Many influential people, from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to European Council President Charles Michel to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, are trying to convince Putin of the need to act. Unsuccessfully.
According to the Financial Times, Putin told Michel in a phone call on Friday that Ukraine had “built a wall” and that “it’s not the right time” to meet Zelenský. Erdogan is now apparently next in line to convince the head of the Kremlin. In a phone call on Sunday, he assured Zelenský that Turkey was ready to provide all possible assistance.
The Russian president now seems to believe that he is able to take control of another Ukrainian territory. After all, Moscow no longer hides such intentions.
“After the launch of the second phase of the special operation (…), one of the Russian military’s tasks is to establish full control over Donbas and southern Ukraine,” Major General Rustam Minneyev said at a meeting of the Sverdlovsk Defense Industry Association this week.
“Dominating southern Ukraine will provide Russia with further ties with Transnistria, where reports of persecution of Russian-speaking people come,” said Major General Minnevaev. At the same time, it would cut Ukraine off from the sea, and therefore from the important ports through which it exports grain to the whole world.
Ukrainians show confidence that they are able to suppress Russian forces. At the same time, however, according to the FT, they are increasingly afraid that Russia will resort to the use of tactical nuclear weapons, which Moscow officials have indicated several times.
They also have doubts about Putin in the Kremlin
But President Zelensky tried to allay those fears on Saturday. “I don’t think a mind-conscious person could consider using a nuclear weapon. It is only possible if someone loses touch with reality, “he said.
Josef Kraus, a security analyst at Masaryk University, also believes that Russia is now playing for everything and can therefore resort to other monstrosities.
“That is, the widespread liquidation of entire cities, artillery bombardment, missile forces, raids on civilian targets. This is only the beginning of the next phase, if the Russians are not able to solve the situation by force and seize the territory. Then I’m afraid there may be an escalation using weapons of mass destruction, “Kraus told the Connexionblog.
The fact that Vladimir Putin does not intend to be deterred from warfare, but also arouses increasing nervousness in the Kremlin. Doubts about his war plan are beginning to be raised among senior officials of the Kremlin regime. Although their ranks remain limited, they are in high positions in both government and state-owned enterprises.
Bloomberg published a text on Wednesday in which ten Kremlin “insiders” spoke. They asked for anonymity because they were afraid of retaliation.
They called Putin’s war of aggression a “catastrophic mistake” that took the country back decades. According to Bloomberg, a growing number of senior officials fear that Russia’s isolation will permanently damage the country’s economy, threaten its security and clearly decimate the influence that Moscow has had in the world so far.
According to people familiar with the situation, senior officials tried to explain to the president that the economic impact of the sanctions would be devastating and would erase the two decades of growth and higher living standards that Putin provided during his reign.
However, Putin refuses to listen to these voices and isolates those who warn him of the crippling economic and political costs.
On the contrary, it is increasingly relying on a narrowing circle of “hard line” advisers, the agency writes. These include Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev.
War in Ukraine
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