podcast
“Ukraine – the situation”
Putin also wants territorial gains at the price of destruction
Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to conquer areas of Ukraine, even if they are completely destroyed, says Carlo Masala
© Yevgeny Biyatov/Sputnik / AFP
No price seems too high for Russian President Vladimir Putin to take territory from Ukraine. According to military expert Carlo Masala, this is because Putin believes he is on a historic mission.
According to military expert Carlo Masala, Russian President Vladimir Putin is striving for territorial gains in Ukraine, even at the price of the complete destruction of these areas. Masala says im star-Podcast “Ukraine – the situation” from Tuesday, Putin sees himself on a historic mission. He wants to snatch land from Ukraine that he understands belongs to Russia. He wants to line himself up with Peter the Great and Stalin. That’s why “it doesn’t really matter to him whether he takes over a complete desert or not”.
The politics professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich explains that the Russian army could destroy the Ukrainian cities with its superior artillery. “But goals have to be taken,” he says. The Ukrainians would engage the Russians in street and house fighting where they would have an advantage. And even after a possible defeat of Ukraine in the clash between the two armies, the fighting could go on for years, as the Ukrainians would then turn to guerrilla warfare. Masala makes it clear that there are many arguments against the war that Russia is waging. Nevertheless, it remains true: “Ultimately, the historic mission on which Putin is outweighs.”
Summer crucial for Ukraine and Putin
It is crucial for Ukraine to get weapons quickly. “Summer is the critical phase,” says Masala. “If there isn’t a massive influx of so-called heavy weapons over the summer, the tide could finally turn in favor of the Russian Federation.” This applies to the military conflict between the two states. “Then the Ukrainians could be forced to adopt a different strategy in the fall and winter; this strategy would be a kind of guerrilla and partisan warfare.”
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dr Carlo Masala is Professor of International Politics at the Bundeswehr University in Munich.
With a view to possible peace negotiations, he points out that the Europeans could be involved in some form. But it will be decisive “that the United States will sit directly or indirectly at the table”. Russian President Vladimir Putin is on an equal footing with the United States. “From a Russian perspective, the European Union is not a unified actor powerful enough for Russia to accept as a serious opponent or negotiator.”