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Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, predicted a prolonged conflict between his country and Ukraine and a potential nuclear exchange.
Putin attended a Human Rights Council gathering held in Kremlin. He promised to use every tool to continue fighting Ukrainian soldiers at the meeting. However, he declared that he would not send in more troops. Putin made the declaration after several expert predictions that Putin would not abandon the fight despite little but significant setbacks in various Ukrainian regions.
“With regard to the protracted nature of the special military operation and its results, of course, it’s going to take a while, perhaps,” Putin said.
“As for the idea that Russia wouldn’t use such weapons first under any circumstances. Then it means we wouldn’t be able to be the second to use them either. Because the possibility to do so in case of an attack on our territory would be very limited,” he added.
“Nevertheless, we have a strategy. Namely, as a defense, we consider weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons – it is all based around the so-called retaliatory strike. That is, when we are struck, we strike in response.”
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Putin will not yet deploy forces
The Russian president stated that he would refuse to raise more soldiers at this time. However, he emphasized how the US became involved in transferring its nuclear weapons to European territory. He implied that the US decision was unfair by contrasting it with Russia not relocating its nuclear weapons to another soil. Putin, meanwhile, vowed to stand his ground in a nuclear exchange.
“We have not gone crazy. We are aware of what nuclear weapons are. And we have these means. They are in a more advanced and modern form than those of any other nuclear country. This is obvious. But we are not going to brandish these weapons like a razor, running around the world,” he said.
The Russian military comprises of more than 300,000 troops. Many of whom got called during the partial mobilization months ago. According to Putin, seventy-seven thousand of these men currently serve in military formations. The others comprise the defensive unit and those undergoing training.
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Russia continuing the fight
Putin denied any assertions that Russia would end the conflict quickly. Instead, he predicted that the war would last a while. As a result, experts speculate that Putin may be afraid of losing the war. However, Putin is unable to acknowledge that he lost some elements essential to his ability to win the war.
“Since September, I see a lot of changes [in Russia] and a lot of fears,” said Tatiana Stanovara, a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace scholar.
“People begin to consider the worst-case scenario for the first time since the war started. That Russia can lose. And they don’t see and don’t understand how Russia can get out of this conflict without being destroyed. People grow very anxious,” she added.
“The fact that Russia is still waging this war, despite its apparent defeats in March [when its forces withdrew from Kyiv], indicates that Putin is desperate not to lose,” said Ilya Matveev, a political scientist in St. Petersburg.
Opinions expressed by Texas Today contributors are their own.
