Mikhail Cassianov late gave an interview to Channel 4. During the interview, he referred to Vladimir Putin's reaction to the U.S. proposal to suspend arms in Ukraine for 30 days. In his opinion, the president of Russia is "not interested" in any truce.
The consequence to the U.S. proposal was formulated in specified a way as not to undermine the president of the United States. “He wants to talk to Donald Trump, does not want to offend him, so he says he agrees to a ceasefire, but under certain conditions. In fact, he wants only additional concessions from the Ukrainian side and expects Ukraine to capitulate sooner or later," said Cassianov.
He added that Kiev’s destiny was 1 thing — Putin measured much higher.
According to Cassianov, he tries not to antagonize Trump in order to impose his actual conditions. erstwhile Russian Prime Minister noted that the Republican "made many statements in Putin's favor", which makes the Kremlin leader number on Trump to pull him out of international isolation. And he truly needs it to accomplish his eventual goal.
“Putin wants to sit at the table with Trump and decide the destiny of the planet with him. I don't want to be seen as part of a conflict. He wants to be seen as a planet leader who discusses the destiny of the planet and the fresh safety architecture, about European security," said erstwhile Russian Prime Minister.
He added that Putin's position could be weakened within a maximum of 10 months by exerting additional force on his regime. To confirm this, he stated that the erstwhile sanctions imposed on Russia by the West had reduced Putin's "half income" and could weaken it even more — the Russian leader managed to "overcome problems" thanks to his Shadow fleet. The impact on it could, according to Cassianov, besides hit the Kremlin.
The task of Europe
The erstwhile Russian Prime Minister called for further support for Ukraine, stressing that "this is crucial at this point". He besides referred to Vladimir Putin's demands concerning, among others, the global designation of Russia's expansion into annexed Ukrainian territories and NATO's withdrawal from Central and east Europe. “The West is not ready, but possibly Donald Trump, to accept any of these conditions,” said Cassianov.
— All European leaders proceed to believe that Ukraine should search to reconstruct its territorial integrity in the future, not by military means, as Zelenski says, but by diplomatic means," he added.
He besides warned against Putin's tactics. In his opinion, the Russian president will prolong the war, while directing "nice words" at Trump to drag him to his side. He is now "moving step by step" and believes that "in a fewer months the situation will change in his favour".
Therefore, the support of the United States "is now crucial" for the endurance of Ukraine, as the EU and the United Kingdom will not be able to replace it "from day to day," said Mikhail Kasjanov.
