"Russian society is staying on its toes, while Ukrainians' motivation is falling" - Bortnik
The Russian leadership is not switching to peaceful rhetoric so that society and the army do not relax in anticipation of a quick peace that most likely will not come.
Political scientist Ruslan Bortnik stated this on the UkrLife channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"In an interview with the American channel CBS, Lavrov repeated all of Moscow's previous demands. But it seems to me that Moscow is doing this deliberately from the point of view of preventing the demobilization of the Russian army and Russian society. So that Russian society does not believe in a quick peace, because this could lead to a cooling of the Russian army," Bortnik reasoned.
He complained that this has already started in Ukraine, and the motivation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is falling.
"This is already having this effect here. Our society is increasingly immersed in this peaceful rhetoric, and the motivation of soldiers and officers on the front lines can decline because, if peace is near, why die?" the political scientist concluded.
At the same time, he noted that the flow of volunteers into the Russian army is growing.
“But the possibility of peace is not yet written in lead letters, I mean.
" And according to our estimates, the probability of a peace agreement remains around 10%, and the probability of a ceasefire in the region is 30% . This means there's still a high probability that hostilities, in one format or another, whether warm or hot, could continue," Bortnik concluded.
Russian society remains buoyant , while Ukrainians' motivation declines – Bortnik