Putin has not abandoned his imperial aims in the war against Ukraine, experts say
The Kremlin is blurring the West's trail by saying it has no intention of occupying any new Ukrainian territories.
This is reported by military analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
They believe that Putin still wants to implement maximalist goals in the war against Ukraine. And they cite several arguments as proof.
For example, the Russian president recently reiterated that Russia is the only guarantor of Ukrainian sovereignty. In addition, there have been statements in the Kremlin before that society needs to prepare for a protracted war. This too may indicate that the Kremlin is not yet giving up on its maximalist plans to take over Ukraine.
Although Putin's press secretary Peskov recently said that Moscow's current territorial goal is the complete seizure of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions. And that they do not seek to occupy further territories.
Analysts, however, call the move an information operation aimed at misleading the West into pushing Ukraine into peace talks.