No point in peace talks: Budanov — “We have no option but to get back what was occupied. Otherwise, the state of war will go on forever.”

by marketrent

4 comments

  1. The Inquirer’s Trudy Rubin speaks with Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov:

    *Budanov believes that the Crimean Peninsula — captured by Moscow in 2014 and turned into a huge military base that controls most of Ukraine’s southern coast — can be cut off from resupply and forced into submission.*

    *Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army Europe, has long argued that this would be the key to putting Putin on the defensive.*

    *“I share the opinion of Gen. Hodges, absolutely,” said the Ukrainian spy chief. “So we need to do everything to implement it.”*

    *HUR’s Ukrainian-made Magura drones have already been used to destroy several Russian ships and force them to relocate from Crimea.*

    *“They are already trapped near Novorossiysk port,” Budanov said. “We just need to make sure that all the remains of the fleet are pushed back to the territory of the Russian Federation. There have been no combat ships left in the Black Sea for a long time.”*

     

    *Next step is to cut all resupply for Russian forces in Crimea, including Putin’s pet project, the Kerch Bridge.*

    *[Budanov] believes that long-range ATACMS missiles, which Biden finally delivered to Ukraine in recent months, could ultimately take out the bridge.*

    *Those who claim ATACMS aren’t powerful enough to do the job are mistaken, he said. “They should read the technical manuals. The only question is their quantities, but principally speaking, these missiles will allow us to fulfill such a mission.”*

    *Budanov scoffs at the idea that Moscow would use tactical nuclear weapons if control of Crimea were threatened, a fear Putin constantly fans. The Ukrainian believes he understands Putin’s mindset and limitations.*

    *I would add that Putin’s redlines on Crimea have been crossed many times when Ukraine fired British missiles at bases there, and nothing has happened. If there is any chance to convince Putin he can’t win, it may lie with making Moscow’s hold on Crimea untenable.*

    *As for Budanov, he sees no point in peace talks, because “we have no option but to get back what was occupied. Otherwise, the state of war will go on forever.”*

  3. I’m no geopolitics scholar, but isn’t this what Russia wants? Perpetual war / conflict has been how the nation operates as it stymies progress and keeps the country focused mainly on hostilities.

    NATO would be off the table for the near future and possibly EU ascension as well. Both groups don’t want to be dragged further into this quagmire.

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