A close ally of Putin has dampened hopes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could end next year, instead suggesting the conflict could drag on ‘for several more years’ to achieve Kyiv’s ‘complete liquidation’
Hopes for peace in Ukraine next year may already be shattered. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had kindled ambition in his marathon year-end press conference where he directly addresses the Russian people.
In his annual broadcast, the despot focused extensively on the ongoing “special military operation” in Ukraine. During the conference, Putin said Russia is prepared to end the conflict peacefully as long as all the underlying causes are addressed.
Moreover, he expressed hope that Russia will enjoy peace next year. “We would also very much like to live in peace in 2026, without any military conflicts,” he said. Russia strives to resolve all conflicts through negotiations, he added.
However, one of Putin’s leading supporters has already stepped in to pour cold water on any hopes the conflict could be resolved in the new year. Anatoly Wasserman, a member of the State Duma, said the operation’s end date is hard to predict – but will involve Ukraine’s “complete liquidation”.
“No one knows exactly when the operation will end, since NATO is fighting against us,” said Wasserman, an influential journalist and political pundit as well as a member of the lower house in Russia’s Federal Assembly. “And its reserves of strength, as I’ve said repeatedly, could last for several more years.
“Another issue is that NATO has many economic problems of its own. This also needs to be taken into account.”
The commentator, who left Ukraine to become a Russian citizen as the conflict flared in 2016, echoed Putin’s insistence that all the invasion’s goals must be achieved.
“I proceed from the fact that the terrorist organisation Ukraine must be completely liquidated,” he bluntly stated.
He further attacked as a false “Polish slogan” the view that Ukraine is not Russian. Ukrainians, he claimed, are part of the Russian people.
The residents of Poltava, a Ukrainian city, and Smolensk, a Russian city, are no more different than the residents of Russian cities such as Arkhangelsk and Samara, he said.
“Experience has proven that any attempt to implement the Polish slogan ‘Ukraine is not Russia’ sooner or later turns into terror against the Russian majority of those lands that are considered Ukraine,” he claimed.
Wasserman was sanctioned by the UK government on 11 March 2022 over the Russo-Ukrainian War. The outspoken pundit has also used his popular YouTube channel and the TV program he hosts to share conspiracy theories on topics such as the origins of the Covid pandemic.
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