On Thursday, Ukrainian President NATO demanded a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but that request was rejected by NATO, fearing it could lead to the war spreading to other countries.
In a speech on Saturday, Vladimir Putin called Western sanctions against Russia The same declaration of warAnd potentially considered participating in a blockade war.
At the same time, the initially raised ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine was quickly broken, and the evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was halted on Saturday.
An embarrassment to Putin
Julie Wilhelmson, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Foreign Policy, says the Russian side has no intention of compromising. He believes the Kremlin aims to militarize Ukraine.
– At the same time, how completely catastrophic this war is, and what’s in danger – even Putin’s regime should soon begin to dawn in the Kremlin.
Putin’s Priorities: Julie Wilhelmson, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Foreign Policy, believes Putin will prioritize military progress in saving civilian lives. Photo: Fraud Sunday / TV2
The senior researcher hopes that the Kremlin will be ready to participate in policy to expel citizens. However he acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Putin’s government.
– Then the first priority is to defeat the army, says Wilhelmson.
At the same time, there is little indication that the Ukrainians are going to surrender, so the Zelensky government is not moving in the direction of Putin’s demands.
Something unexpected may happen
According to Geir Hågen Karlsen, so far the Russians have dominated, but insist they are well within the target of total control.
– In the end the Russians are making progress, but still have a long way to go. Carlson says there is a huge area between cities that, too, needs to be controlled, and we are far from making decisions on the ground.
Often one party has to win, the other party has to lose. However, he says it is unclear what the next phase of the war will be.
“Suddenly something unexpected happened,” said the lieutenant colonel.
Uncertain future: Lieutenant Colonel Khair Hegen Carlson says the war in Ukraine could take an unexpected turn. Photo: Truls Aagedal / TV 2
On Saturday, the Russian president issued a warning to the West. He acknowledged that their numbers were not enough to defeat Lukashenko’s planes.
– Save the spread of war
Carlson believes Putin’s intent is to intimidate the West into further actions that could affect the Russian economy.
– This is, first and foremost, a warning and an attempt to prevent Western nations from further sanctions. It is obvious that they are hurting the Russian economy, which allows some to turn against Putin and the Kremlin regime.
But despite the fact that this can only be believed to be an intimidation propaganda attempt, the real danger is that the lieutenant colonel’s statements will turn into action.
– The most worrying thing is that Putin has a certain history of doing what he says. What I fear most is that things are going on that will spread the war or increase it in unexpected ways, says Carlson.
Wilhelmson agrees with Carlson’s assessment. He says the Kremlin’s sanctions portray it as a Western conspiracy against Russia.
– This is a recognizable rhetoric from the Kremlin. At the same time I am a little scared too. He says we are all surprised that the war between Russia and Ukraine will escalate into a war between Russia and the West and hope it does not happen.
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