Vladimir Putin will “increase his disruption” in the West as he gets “deeper into trouble” in Ukraine, former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Roderic Lyne, has said.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Lyne said: “I think he will try to encourage more conflict in the Balkans. I think we may well see the Russians being even more active in the east and in north Africa.”
The ambassador also said that he thought the Russian leader would “at some point” offer some kind of a ceasefire in return for recognition of annexation of four western provinces of Ukraine.
“I think he’s going to use a range of tactics as the situation on the ground in Ukraine becomes more and more difficult for his troops,” he continued.
Mr Lyne also said Ukrainian troops would not surrender their freedom and the conflict would most likely continue at a “much lower intensity”.
He said: “The intensity is going to go down as both sides are pretty exhausted, pretty depleted. And I think we’re heading into a sort of stalemate with intermittent fighting across the line of control and a long, drawn out war of attrition.”
The ambassador went on to say that Mr Putin had a “total obsession” with Ukraine and believed “pummelling” will allow him to win the war.
“There’s really no end in sight. It’s not just the last six months. This war has been going on for eight and a half years. And Putin has a total obsession with Ukraine,” he said.
“The Ukrainians are now fighting for their survival. They’re fighting for their freedom, fighting for their territory, and they’re not going to give up.
“We’d all love this horrible stop tomorrow. I’m afraid it’s not going to do so because Putin thinks that he can win a war of attrition.
“He thinks that if he goes on pummelling Ukraine, he rebuilds his military forces, that eventually and I do mean a long way down the road that he can win.
“I don’t believe he can, so long as Western support holds up for Ukraine.”
Source; Skynews