'Putin is war': Russian opposition figure Kasparov explains why war in Ukraine will continue
Garry Kasparov (photo: Getty Images)
For Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is important to eliminate Ukrainian statehood. He does not intend to end the war, one of the leaders of the Russian opposition, Garry Kasparov, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Read also: Zelenskyy: Putin is a slave to war, guarantees must come first
"The reason for the war has not yet been clearly defined, or rather, everyone understands... But the key phrase defining the cause of the war as Putin's desire to eliminate Ukrainian statehood and restore Russian-Soviet imperial influence in Eastern Europe (and, in general, revising the results of the Cold War, which is the ideological basis of Putin's war), everything else is just talk for the poor," Kasparov said.
According to him, a certain compromise in ending the war would mean that Putin will simply regroup and move further, because the war for the Russian president does not end even in Ukraine.
"Putin's war is global, a war against the West, against liberal democracies, and here, Putin represents the illiberal part of the world," one of the leaders of the Russian opposition emphasized.
He also stressed that an attempt to find an agreement to end the war in Ukraine without removing the root cause of the war is doomed to failure.
"If the Ukrainian authorities decide that it is necessary to compromise by making territorial concessions, in my opinion, this may not be the best decision; it may be a bad one, but I, of course, can never express my opinion or criticize. This is the decision of the Ukrainian people. I support it, whatever the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian people decide on this issue. But it's absolutely clear that the war cannot end as long as Putin is in power. Everything else is just noise. Putin is a war. Putin's Russia is a military camp. This does not mean that, without Putin, Russia will end the war, but the war cannot end as long as Putin is in power," Kasparov added.
According to him, Putin will continue the war because it has become the main mechanism for maintaining his power.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Putin does not plan to end the war in Ukraine. He wants to rule Russia until his death and fears his own people — only war allows him to remain in power.
At the same time, Ukraine, together with the United States and European partners, agreed on an action plan in case Moscow violates a potential peace agreement. The document provides for both diplomatic and military steps, in particular, the possibility of a rapid coordinated response of allies within 72 hours in the event of a new large-scale offensive by Russia.
