Professor of international politics David Criekemans (UA) speaks of a “particularly worrying situation” in Ukraine. “The battle is hardening on both sides. And the Russians will pull out coarser means,” he says in VTM NIEUWS.
A meeting took place in Turkey today between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Although little progress was made, both decided to continue their talks. Criekemans calls it “a difficult start”.
“And yesterday’s attack on the children’s hospital in Mariupol made the situation even more difficult,” he says. “In addition, we see that the Russian Federation is slowing things down a bit. Putin believes that he can still make progress on the ground. The same goes for the Ukrainians, because the whole nation is mobilized. I fear that both sides will negotiate with the brakes on, because they both think they can achieve even more on the battlefield and thus strengthen their negotiating position.”
Mobilization
However, it seems to have been stuck not only diplomatically, but also on the ground for days. According to Criekemans, the Russian Federation currently thinks that it is winning, despite the enormous mobilization in the port city of Odessa, for example. “The question is whether Ukraine can stand there,” he says.
“In the eastern areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, an encircling movement has started from the north and the south,” he continues. “I suspect the Russians think they can consolidate that territorially. And in Kiev there is a form of psychological warfare. The Russian army column moves very slowly and is occasionally attacked. Destroying Kiev is unthinkable anyway. The city also has enormous historical importance for Russia, as the cradle of Russian civilization. So Russia wants to put pressure on the government there. And maybe she still wants to remove it.”
Syria scenario
The situation is in any case “particularly worrying” according to Criekemans. “The battle is hardening on both sides. And the Russians will pull out coarser means. If you get even more humanitarian catastrophes, it becomes more and more difficult to find an exit at the negotiating table and we are almost moving towards the Syria scenario.”
Read all about the conflict in Ukraine in our file.
– This is how the last hours of mother and two children who died at the bridge of Irpin . passed
– “The West must realize that Russia is an enemy and act accordingly,” says the first Foreign Minister Russia had after the Soviet Union (+)
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.