Putin Has No Means to Continue the War, Expert Says
The Russian army does not have the same combat capability as before - it is running out of equipment, and people do not want to go to war against Ukraine. And now the Russians are trying to bargain for as much as possible in the negotiation process with Russia, says Rostislav Murzagulov, a political strategist and former chairman of the Public Chamber of Bashkortostan.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Murzagulov's interview with the FREEDOM TV channel.
‘I think that Putin has no opportunity to continue the war. And everything he does, everything his ‘henchmen’ say, is only about trying to bargain for as much as possible and at the same time intimidate Ukrainians as much as possible until Trump stops allowing them to do anything. That is why barbaric, crazy attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine continue in Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, and other cities,’ the expert said.
According to him, US President Trump has already quite clearly delivered an ultimatum to Putin.
‘That is, either you say that you agree to a truce before my 100 days [as president] and actually agree to it, your guns and missiles stop firing, or I give the command ‘Fass!’ to Senator Graham, our new McCain, Trump tells him,’ the speaker said.
Senator Graham, according to Murzagulov, even somewhere hopes that Putin will do this stupidity and not agree to give Trump such a gift before the 100th day of his presidency.
‘Because then Senator Graham already has a quorum, a joint group with the Democrats, to approve bills that will be related to putting Russia in its place. The place it deserves. There are also very tough measures being considered against China if it continues to trade oil and gas with Russia, and against any other countries that do the same. Therefore, in my opinion, Putin's position will be extremely disadvantageous if he suddenly continues all this arbitrariness after 29 April,’ the political strategist said.
Murzagulov believes that Putin's only hope now is that if Trump suddenly starts to forgive him, he will start to resume trade with the rest of the world.
‘The trend in the Russian economy right now is a downward one. Therefore, I conclude that what Putin is most likely doing now is a good old-fashioned attempt to take his interlocutors for a ride, to tell them how scary and powerful he is, how he is ready to fight for many, many more days. But the fact that no other army in the world has such combat capability as Russia's is a blatant lie. This army has no combat capability whatsoever. It is running out of equipment, and people do not want to go to war anymore,’ the speaker stressed.
According to Murzagulov, Putin is likely to find himself in the position of a ‘cornered rat’.
‘When he's cornered, of course, he wiggles for a while, but then he runs away with his heels sparkling. He has done this many times in my memory. He did it in Chechnya. He also fled Syria in the same way. And I think he has no other choice here. And if he does make this crazy choice, then within six months Russia will cease to exist in the form in which it currently exists,’ the guest summed up.