Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to negotiate and is buying time while his army is trying to make a breakthrough on the front in Ukraine. This was stated by Austrian Colonel Markus Reisner to Tagesspiegel, commenting on the lack of progress in the negotiations between Kiev and Moscow.
„I warned that in such a situation only fictitious negotiations can emerge, which Russia will use to buy time. This is exactly what we are experiencing now“, Reisner said.
„The art of negotiation, of course, is to reach a compromise. But if Ukraine is receiving less and less support, if the US is increasingly withdrawing, if Europe is not able to compensate, why should Moscow respond in any way to what Kiev wants?“, said the Austrian military expert.
According to Markus Reisner, Putin will not give up his maximalist demands on Ukraine – which would also mean the end of its independence.
“That is exactly the terrible thing about the current situation. We are essentially back where we were in the spring of 2022, when the negotiations took place in Istanbul. The Ukrainians want a ceasefire, at least for 30 days. And the Russians are talking about the “root causes” of the conflict. In translation, this means: large-scale territorial losses for Kiev, no NATO membership, crippled Ukrainian armed forces and no reliable security guarantees,“ Reisner said.
The colonel said that the Ukrainians have no choice but to keep fighting. If the Russians wanted to end the war, they would do so immediately. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, they will cease to exist as a state. Russia still wants Ukraine to surrender, Reisner is adamant.
The Austrian colonel commented on the possibility of Germany providing Kiev with Taurus cruise missiles and what effect they would have on what was happening on the front: “A single weapon system is never decisive in a war, but must always be considered in conjunction with another. Moreover, such weapon systems only work if they are used in a saturated manner. What does this mean? Cruise missiles must be deployed on a large scale to be effective. It would take about a dozen attacks a day for several weeks to bring the enemy to its knees. If three or four such missiles were used once a month, it could bring some spectacular successes, but without much effect“.
We are currently witnessing the culmination of the Russian spring offensive, which is already clearly a preparation for a summer offensive, Reisner believes. He is adamant that Ukraine must carry out a large-scale mobilization to have a chance at the front, and if the United States stops its military aid, this will be unfavorable for Kiev.