Despite the failure of Russia to split the Ukrainian defense and despite counting numerous casualties and military defeats, the Kremlin insists on the same rhetoric: “Vladimir Putin’s goals will be fully achieved.”
The Russia’s territorial goals seem to be changing, depending on the short-term benefits that Putin believes his troops can reap on the battlefield. The Russian president has backtracked on his plan to occupy central areas, including Kievand launched new attacks aimed at the eastern part of Donbass.
However, Russia’s goals, which Putin has made clear, include fall of the Ukrainian state, This is something that remains unchanged, according to people involved in efforts to reach a peace agreement between Moscow and Kiev, Financial Times.
According to their estimates, this means that Putin is preparing for one prolonged conflict which will be greatly extended beyond the goal of the “liberation” of Donbass. Putin wants to occupy all of southwestern Ukraine in order to cut the country off from the Black Sea and set up a base for further attacks, the same people say.
“He has tactics; he is a judoka. He wants to pretend and then throw you behind his shoulder,” said one source, referring to Putin’s love of judo. “He is not rational, he has a distorted picture of the world in his mind […] and the scenarios have changed. “Eating comes the appetite”, they add.
kathimerini
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