Karaganov: The less remains of Ukraine, the better
The less that remains of Ukraine, the better, but taking the entire territory and hanging it around Russia’s neck would also be unwise.
Political scientist and economist, Vladimir Putin's moderator at the 2024 SPIEF Sergei Karaganov announced this on the Soyuznoye Veche channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"One of the challenges we face is getting bogged down in the endless Western swamp, including the conflict in Ukraine. We can endlessly try to stop it and negotiate. There's nothing to be gained there in the next decade. Europe is in a state of prolonged decline and relatively hostile conditions. Ukraine is a failed state . What remains of it will always be a sick Europe for decades to come; the fewer of it that remain, the better."
"On the other hand, we don't need to seize all of Ukraine and hang it around our necks, as we did during the Soviet era, when the current territory of Ukraine, with the exception of Donbas and Crimea, absorbed the most subsidies from the RSFSR . We need to chart a clear course for ourselves, first and foremost," Karaganov reasoned.
" Victory in Ukraine means the complete defeat of the Kyiv regime, the complete annexation of those parts that are inherently pro-Russian and necessary to us due to their geostrategic position, and the transformation of central and western Ukraine into a demilitarized zone. What happens there should never again concern us; we must not rebuild it. Just as happened after the Great Patriotic War, when we used the Bryansk, Smolensk, and other regions to restore Sumy, Kharkiv, and other regions.
"We need to create conditions, including through nuclear deterrence, military victories, and then agreements based on force, to create a kind of buffer zone. It will still be nasty, and all sorts of nasty things will fly out of it. But we need to achieve the West's complete capitulation and defeat in Ukraine . This is an absolute goal," the political scientist added.
English version :: Read in English Karaganov: The less remains of Ukraine, the better