Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President Vladimir Putin is said to be preparing Russia for ‘forever war’ with the West after the attack on Ukraine has stopped. This can be seen from the speeches made by the 70-year-old leader.
Speaking at length to workers at an aviation factory in the Buryatia region recently, Putin once again called war an existential battle for Russia’s survival.
“For us, this is not a geopolitical task, but a task to defend Russian statehood, create conditions for the future development of our country and our children,” Putin said, as quoted The GuardianWednesday (29/3/2023).
Political analyst Maxim Trudolyubov said the pattern of Putin’s speech was increasingly shifting toward discussing what observers called an “everlasting war” with the West.
“Putin has practically stopped talking about concrete war goals. Nor has he proposed a vision of what a future victory will look like. War has no clear beginning or foreseeable end,” Trudolyubov said.
During a closely watched speech by Putin last month, the Russian leader reiterated some of his many complaints against the West. He emphasized that Moscow is fighting for national survival and will win in the end.
Trudolyubov said Putin’s veiled message to the people was that the war in Ukraine was not going to end anytime soon and Russia had to learn to live with it.
Meanwhile, Western officials described listening to Putin’s aggressive speech in February with dismay. They saw it as the Russian leader doubling down on the war and leaving little room for retreat.
A western diplomat in Moscow described Putin’s message in the speech as preparing the Russian public for never-ending war. He also said it was not clear that Putin could accept defeat in the conflict because it appeared the leader did not understand how to lose.
The diplomat also said Putin does not appear to be reconsidering the conflict despite heavy losses and setbacks last year. The diplomat noted that the Russian president was a former KGB agent and said they were trained to always pursue their goals, rather than reassess goals in the first place.
Another diplomat noted that the Russian leader, who according to western intelligence personally makes operational and tactical decisions in Ukraine, has stopped discussing the situation on the Ukrainian front in his public comments.
According to a study of the president’s speech by Russian news agency Verstka, Putin last mentioned fighting in Ukraine on January 15, 2023. In that speech Putin said that his troop dynamics were positive.
The Russian leadership initially predicted the conflict would last just a matter of weeks before they declared victory, according to plans captured by western intelligence at the start of the war.
Over the winter, western military analysts and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that Russia, after recruiting 300,000 men last fall, would mount a major new offensive.
But Moscow’s assault across its 160-mile arc in eastern Ukraine has brought the country minimal gains at a staggering cost. Western officials estimate that there were up to 200,000 people killed or wounded on the Russian side.
Despite the setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine, the Kremlin has weathered every potential backlash to the war at home, destroying the last vestiges of Russian civil society and changing the face of the country in the process.
As is known, Putin launched an invasion or “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and the war has not subsided for more than a year.
(luc/luc)
