Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zazo has said that Vladimir Putin is no rush with the war in Ukraine as “he is waiting for the results of the US elections.”
Putin is also very clear that “Ukraine does not exist” as for him “Ukraine is part of Russia” and that there is no “national identity” for Ukrainians.
Speaking in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine Zazo said, “Perhaps the only thing I can say is that Putin is quite clear.
“He is in no hurry because he is waiting for the results of the US elections. He managed to successfully reduce the negative impact of sanctions and transfer the Russian economy to the ‘economy of war.’ We have to admit it.
Read more related news:
Musk warns Putin will gain more land and Ukraine a suffering a ‘tragic waste of life’
I am absolutely sure this is my observation, because I also worked in Russia before: for Putin, Ukraine does not exist.
“For him, Ukraine is a part of Russia. He categorically denies the Ukrainian national identity.”
The diplomat stressed that “because of the dangerous and fundamentalist ideology of the Russian world, the Putin regime considers Russians and Ukrainians to be one nation.”
He added, “His biggest mistake was to believe that Russian-speaking people in Ukraine are also Russophiles.
“Today, Ukrainians have a strong national identity, especially among young people. I can see how it has changed since 2014. Moreover, it does not matter what language they speak.”
He said that only Putin will decide when the war ends, he said, “Since, of course, the war could end tomorrow if he withdraws his army.
“However, he may think that people will get tired, and then maybe he will get a compromise and a cease-fire. Moreover, it will probably be only a temporary truce, we understand that.”
Zazo said that Russia must not win as this will mean the “end of the world order” and that NATO has demonstrated “amazing unity, and Putin did not expect this.”
Zazo added, “Putin was sure that Europe would remain silent anyway, because we were completely dependent on Russian energy resources, but now this is not the case.
“New countries have become NATO members, such as Sweden and Finland. Incredible changes have taken place. We may not see this now because we live in war day after day, but in two years history has completely changed.”
