“Putin sacrifices the army and the people for his personal survival”

O High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, defended that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, “was wrong in almost everything” in relation to his so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and that ” is now sacrificing its army and its people for its special survival”.

“Militarily Russia has failed. Putin wanted a ‘blitzkrieg’ [guerra-relâmpago, em alemão], but it’s been 18 months and it’s on the defensive. Your quick win project was a complete fiasco”he pointed out, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País.

“Russia has already paid an enormous price in material and human terms: it has lost two thousand tanks, more than all the armies of Europe put together. While this does not mean that it has exhausted its capabilities, Putin is now sacrificing his army and people for his personal survival.“he accused.

Borrell also stated that “Putin thought that Europe’s huge dependence” on Russian hydrocarbons “would prevent” the European Union (EU) from “standing up to him”. However, “in a year and a half, Russian gas consumption, with the exception of Hungary, has dropped to practically zero”.

“He thought he had everything under control and, suddenly, part of his army, or at least part of his troops, takes up arms against his own comrades and advances 400 kilometers towards Moscow. This fact highlights the cracks of the Russian political system,” he said, referring to the failed Wagner Group rebellion.

“I repeat: Putin will sacrifice his people and his army for his personal and political survival, and that is why it is so difficult to negotiate peace. And what has to be negotiated is a new system of collective security that this war has destroyed.”shot.

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia began with the aim, according to Vladimir Putin, of “denazifying” and demilitarizing Ukraine for Russia’s security. The operation was condemned by the international community in general.

The UN confirmed that almost ten thousand civilians died and more than 16 thousand were wounded in the war, stressing that the real numbers will be much higher and can only be known when there is access to fenced areas or under intense fighting.

Read Also: Russian army cancels Ukrainian drone attack over Moscow region