Borrell: We must prepare, Putin decided to continue war until final victory
The European Union's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in an interview with The Guardian that Russian dictator Volodymyr Putin has decided to fight Ukraine until victory, so the EU should prepare for a long war.
According to Borrell, this war has existential significance not only for Ukraine but also for the European Union.
"Maybe this is the moment in which we have to look at the danger coming from a great power which threatens our democracy, which threatens Europe itself, not only Ukraine. And if we don’t change course rapidly, if we don’t mobilise all our capacities, it will let Putin win the war in Ukraine," the diplomat said, calling on his partners for the second time in recent days mobilize all possibilities.
Borrell suggests that Putin will not be satisfied with "a piece of Ukraine" and will not agree to peace, "especially not before the American election, which may present him with a much more favourable scenario."
"We must prepare for a conflict of high intensity for a long time. Putin has decided to continue the war until the final victory," the diplomat believes.
In his opinion, Putin is betting on human resources, but he was wrong about the capacity of his army.
"He had been wrong about the capacity of his army. He was wrong about the capacity of the Ukrainian resistance. He was wrong about the will of the European Union. He was wrong about the strength of the transatlantic alliance. But he is still there. He is still willing to fight, to let his people die, so that his army and his people suffer, because he has no reverse," Borrell said.
"Russia has never been able to become a nation. It was always an empire with the tsar, with the Soviets, and now with Putin. It is a constant of Russia, and its political identity, and as a result a threat to his neighbours – and particularly to us," the diplomat concluded.
At the final press conference for 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that no one really knows when the war will end. "The war depends on many factors. But mostly – on you and me. If we do not lose our stability, we will end the war earlier," he believes.
The IMF predicts another year of war for Ukraine in the base scenario, two more in the negative scenario.