Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

What Putin's End-Game May Be With Appeal To Ukraine Army, Call For Peace

What Putin's End-Game May Be With Appeal To Ukraine Army, Call For Peace

In 2014, Russia not only seized Crimea but also backed rebels who set up separatist administrations in Donetsk and Luhans.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks designed to take Kyiv and create a land corridor south to the Black Sea, splitting the country into two, military analysts and former officials said, echoing the view of Ukraine's generals.

President Vladimir Putin may still seek some form of control over the entire country, they said, as he strives to stop Ukraine ever joining NATO. He is also not guaranteed victory. A senior U.S. defence official said on Friday that Russia was facing more resistance than it expected, not least in its advance on Kyiv.

The tactics of the advancing Russian troops point to a "flanking movement" from Ukraine's weakest points - its northern border with Belarus, and in the south Crimea, which Russian annexed eight years ago, with its huge naval base.

Such a strategy, if successful, could allow Moscow to control eastern Ukraine including its seaboard directly while reducing western Ukraine to a vassal state, and in turn reduce the financial costs of a long-term occupation, experts say.

"I think that now they (the Russians) are aiming at creating a land bridge all the way to Moldova," said Konrad Muzyka, director of the Poland-based Rochan consultancy.

Russian tanks and forces began their invasion on Thursday through the eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and from the south in Tavriya, while missile strikes and bombing from Belarus began an advance towards Kyiv from the north, according to the Ukrainian military.

According to a Ukrainian defence ministry broadcast posted on Facebook on Thursday, military movements so far suggest that the Kremlin's goal is to "block Kyiv, create a land corridor to the occupied Crimean peninsula and self-proclaimed Transnistria".

In 2014, Russia not only seized Crimea but also backed rebels who set up separatist administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk, in the largely Russian-speaking Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.

It also has troops in Transnistria, a Russian-speaking breakaway province of Moldova.

Joerg Forbrig, at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, said Russian troops could "try to gain control of a very large part of Ukraine, which will include those territories that would make a land corridor between the between the three territories they control already".

'UKRAINIANS WOULD RESIST'


Ukraine's armed forces have so far denied Putin a rapid advance on Kyiv. "As long as the Russians don't have control of the airspace, they won't be able really to make their armoured thrust into Ukraine count," said Jamie Shea, a former NATO official now at the Friends of Europe think-tank.

Russian missiles pounded Kyiv on Friday. Moscow claimed to have captured the Hostomel airfield northwest of the capital, a potential staging post for an assault on Kyiv.

U.S. officials believe Russia's initial aim is to topple Ukraine's pro-Western president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Putin doesn't want Donbass or Donetsk – he wants all of Ukraine, but he does not have to occupy the entire country to reach that goal. He will aim to decapitate the Ukrainian state," said retired German general Hans-Lothar Domroese.

Defence experts pointed to the huge expense for Russia of a military campaign in Ukraine, a former Soviet state of 44 million people slightly smaller than Texas.

"The Soviet Union spent so much money having its troops in eastern Europe, and they were they were willing participants as communist regimes. Ukrainians would resist any Russian government," said Elisabeth Braw at the American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington.

It is also unclear how a protracted war with many Russian casualties would be perceived at home, even when Putin does not tolerate dissent. Police detained more than 1,800 anti-war protesters across Russia on Thursday.

Putin could seek an arrangement for western Ukraine - where most people speak Ukrainian rather than Russian as their first language - similar to the one Moscow has with Belarus, where Russia has helped long-time president Alexander Lukashenko suppress opposition and dissent.

Carlo Masala, professor for International Politics at Bundeswehr University Munich, said Russia had so far not tried to send troops to western Ukraine in numbers.

"The Russian military build-up, no matter if it is 160,000 or 200,000 troops, is not enough to occupy Ukraine for any long period of time," he said.

"I am still sure that Putin's main goal is seizing Donbass ... and a land corridor to Crimea, splitting these areas off from Ukraine and establishing a tame government in Kyiv."

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×