Russia can only exist in a state of war, warns top Zelensky aide

Yahoo

20-03-2025

Russia can only exist in a state of war, a top aide to Volodymyr Zelensky has warned as negotiations continue over bringing an end to the invasion of Ukraine.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president and main negotiator during the initial 2022 peace talks, said that Vladimir Putin stood to benefit from dragging out his war, which he said was reflected in the Russian leader's negotiating tactics with the US.
In an interview with The Telegraph on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after Mr Zelensky spoke with Donald Trump, Mr Podolyak urged the White House to take more decisive action on the war. He also called on the European Union to accelerate its own plans to support Kyiv and implement further sanctions on Moscow.
Ukraine has so far agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire to halt attacks on energy infrastructure. Strikes have continued, however, and neither Kyiv nor Mr Zelensky's office believe a lasting truce with the Kremlin is within reach.
While world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, have accused Putin of 'dragging his feet' over the ceasefire deal, Mr Podolyak said a clearer understanding was needed in Europe and America that 'time is playing in Russia's favour'.
'There is one rule for negotiating with Russia: if you agree to something today, the price tomorrow will be higher,' he said. 'Russia can only exist in a state of war.'
Sowing chaos in 'global relations is a priority for Russia. It is important for them that the concept of violence dominates. We just need to discuss all these mutual misunderstandings at the negotiating table, with both the EU and US, because our interests are synchronised', Mr Podolyak said.
By the end of this week, American and Ukrainian delegations will meet again in Saudi Arabia, according to Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy. This round of talks come at a moment when recent actions by the Trump administration cast doubt on the amicable rhetoric coming from Kyiv.
Since early February, tensions between the new Trump administration and Ukraine have soured, marked by diplomatic snubs, televised confrontations in the Oval Office, and offhand remarks that have sent shock waves through diplomatic circles. The latest controversy erupted on Wednesday when Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, floated the idea of transferring the ownership of Ukraine's nuclear power plants to the US.
'The US could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise,' the US president was quoted in a White House statement.
Mr Zelensky clarified in a late-night phone call with journalists that the discussion only concerned the Zaporizhzhia plant 'under temporary occupation', seized by Moscow's troops in 2022, but reaffirmed Kyiv's commitment to refraining from attacks on energy and civilian infrastructure.
'I supported this step, and Ukraine confirmed that we are ready to implement it,' he wrote on X.
But on Tuesday evening, just hours after the 30-day truce on energy strikes was announced between Moscow and Washington, Russia cut electricity to the front-line city of Sloviansk and targeted key railway infrastructure.
Kyiv retaliated with long-range drone strikes on an oil pumping station in Krasnodar, bringing operations at the facility to a standstill. On Wednesday night, after Ukraine validated the terms, Russia hit the city of Kropyvnytskyi 30 times.
Credit: X/@front_ukrainian
'To force Russia to do anything at all, we need to use coercive tools,' Mr Podolyak explained to The Telegraph in the heart of Kyiv.
'Without them, Russia will believe that we have lost, and the economy is the coercive tool. Europe can work more actively here. Unfortunately, it is slow to work with sanctions.'
'There could be less bureaucracy and a clearer understanding that time is playing in Russia's favour. Moscow wants to drag out the conflict, periodically reducing the intensity when resources are low, only to ramp up military production and escalate the war once again,' he added when asked about how to speed up sanctions.
Tethered to his phone and constantly checking notifications, he insisted that Ukraine's territorial integrity was a red line that could not be crossed. He also emphasised that the occupied territories, which 'Russia will lose control of' sooner or later, would be reclaimed, by whatever means necessary.
The timing of this week's public telephone call between Mr Trump and Putin has raised eyebrows – it coincided with the eleventh anniversary of Crimea's official annexation. Meanwhile, unnamed US officials leaked to the media that Washington may be considering recognising the peninsula as Russian territory. Also, Tuesday's call was not the first contact between the leaders.
Mr Podolyak pointed out the role of Sir Keir, France's Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Georgia Meloni, and other European leaders had been pivotal in securing the support Ukraine lacked in the past. He also invoked the names of Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, emblematic of an era when Kyiv's pleas for assistance often fell on deaf ears.
'Russia has long invested in creating a global network of foreign citizens who are not pro-Russian from a values perspective, but from a financial one,' Mr Podolyak warned, referring to people who received grants, created media platforms, and backed public movements and political parties across Europe.
'Unfortunately, in every country, there are people who fail to fully grasp the risks posed by the Russian Federation,' he added. 'They see this as a political debate, an internal issue – but it's not. They don't realise that Russia is significantly ramping up its influence. You might ban a satellite, but Russia has circumvention institutions to bypass such measures and shape public opinion.'
Mr Podolyak, a staunch advocate of striking Russian oil depots and applying military pressure on the Kremlin, previously defended Ukraine's offensive in Kursk, arguing it had clear political and strategic value.
Just two weeks after Ukrainian armoured vehicles violated the Russian border and Putin's last red line, Mr Podolyak argued that the operation was politically vital to expose Russia's weakness, but also to force enemy artillery back from the border to protect civilians, and shift the war onto enemy soil.
Now that Ukraine has almost completed its withdrawal from Kursk, he summed it up bluntly: 'From a political perspective, the planned objectives have been fully implemented. But the real issue is that you are constantly fighting while facing a resource deficit, whereas they have amassed manpower at a ratio of 1 to 10 or even 1 to 15. And if you are working with a resource shortage, you simply cannot control the situation.'
With parity, everything would be different. 'Not only in Kursk,' he sighed. Mr Podolyak spoke rapidly, mindful that every minute counted. He once wrote that Ukraine knew how to handle Russia because 'Putin is an open book to them'.
Yet Tuesday's Kremlin statement – marked by gestures of complicity with Mr Trump and even floating the idea of reviving hockey matches between Russia and the US – compels one to flip the question around: is Mr Trump an open book for Putin?
'They are different people. Trump is proactive. He evaluates the consequences of his actions, considers different perspectives, analyses, and adapts along the way. His actions follow a certain system and logic. Putin, on the other hand, has a fixed goal. He has convinced himself that Ukraine does not exist as a historical entity.
'He insists that he has the right to destroy a country that, in his view, is not real, simply because it was once part of the Soviet Union. His systemic thinking is irrational, characteristic of primitive dictators in post-war eras.'
Mr Podolyak added: 'When someone like Putin controls enormous resources, it is too much power for such a limited mind. The weaker the intellect, the more aggressive it becomes, using resources primitively – sending troops until they are burned out in war. If he were truly strategic, he would approach conflicts like a chess game, making calculated moves and compromises, avoiding war. War, after all, is the tool of primitive leaders, and Putin exemplifies this.'
Standing and edging towards the door as his assistant taps impatiently on his watch, Mr Podolyak pauses mid-step to answer one final question about any surprises Ukraine might have in store for 2025: 'Ending the war.'
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