Dhe announcement by Moscow that it is reducing its “military activities” near Kiev is not bad news for Ukraine and the states that support it – if it is not another Kremlin deception. However, the cessation of attacks on the capital’s front would also fit with the previous statement that Russian troops intend to focus on the “liberation” of Donbass. The Russian propaganda justified this by saying that essential war goals of the “special operations” had been achieved.
In any case, the truth is that Putin pretty much missed his alleged goals: Kyiv was not “denazified”. And the “demilitarization” led to the fact that even Germany supplied arms to Ukraine. Contrary to what has been claimed, Putin’s campaign is not going according to plan. The Russian army has made a fool of itself. It is also very likely that Putin did not expect the West to carry out his threat and respond to the attack with massive economic retaliation.
Only choice between plague and cholera
The alleged willingness to reach an agreement with Kyiv could be a sign that Putin is looking for a way out of the impasse he has led Russia into. And from the point of view of the Ukrainian leadership, anything is better than an endless continuation of the Russian war of annihilation. But Putin won’t stop bombing anytime soon. The attacks on the cities are intended to pressure Kyiv to agree to demands that are unacceptable to a sovereign country – and the Western community.
Putin only wants to give the leadership around Zelenskyj the choice between plague and cholera in the hope that they will not survive it. Or that the devastated country will crumble. In any case, Putin is still concerned with preventing Ukraine from becoming a prosperous democracy on the way to the EU. For this he has already sacrificed thousands of young Russians and also ruined his own empire.
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