Atlantic Council columnist Peter Dickinson draws the attention of the international community to the fact that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is determined to wage war against Ukraine “indefinitely,” but this does not mean that he will be able to win it.
Points of attention
- Russia's occupation of only 20 percent of Ukraine's territory has led to 80 percent of the population becoming hostile towards Putin, making his plans more difficult to implement.
- Putin's obsession with Ukraine stems from his fear that a democratic, European, and independent Ukraine could trigger further retreats from the Russian empire.
What is Putin really afraid of?
Over the course of more than 11 years of war, Russia was able to occupy only about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory.
This has led to the fact that the remaining 80 percent of the country's population is now hostile towards Putin and his plans, which makes their implementation much more difficult.
First of all, we are talking about Ukraine's return to the Russian orbit — Russian terror makes this scenario virtually impossible.
The Kremlin dictator’s obsession with Ukraine reflects his fear that the consolidation of a democratic, European and truly independent Ukraine could serve as a catalyst for the next stage of retreat from the Russian empire… It is now increasingly clear that his decision to invade Ukraine is a shocking failure, Peter Dickinson emphasizes.
The Russian dictator eventually realized that he could never completely destroy the very idea of the Ukrainian nation.
On the contrary, it was his actions that led to Ukraine becoming a full-fledged part of the West in the future.
"Rather than accept this catastrophic outcome, he will seek to continue the war indefinitely. Putin knows that if he stops now and accepts a compromise peace, he will be doomed to go down in Russian history as the man who lost Ukraine," the expert explained.
