Vladimir Putin does not intend to limit his desire to occupy the Donbass region in Ukraine only, but he wants to bring the conflict to Transnistria, a region of Moldova that seceded in 1990, declared on Tuesday as head of U.S. Intelligence, April Haines .
We believe that President Putin is preparing for a protracted conflict in Ukraine, in which he still wants to achieve goals across the Donbasssaid Ms. Haines at a congressional hearing.
American intelligence services believe the Russian army wants it extend the ground bridge [dans le sud de l’Ukraine] in Transnistriahe added.
If he is can that Russian forces achieve this goal in the coming months, they would not be able to reach Transnistria and include Odessa without prescribing a means of general mobilizationhe added.
The President of Russia likely to rely on weakening U.S. and European Union decisions when food shortages worsen and energy prices risehe warned.
Mr. Putin’s ambitions exceed, according to him, the capacities of the Russian army and that probably means we will evolve in the coming months on a more unpredictable trajectory and potentially an increaseadded Ms. Haines.
” The current trend increases the chances that President Putin will turn to more drastic measures, including the establishment of martial law, the redirection of industrial production or a potential military increase to free up the resources needed to achieve his goals. “
We continue to believe that President Putin will only order the use of nuclear weapons if he sees an existing threat to the Russian state or regime.he says.
However, the president of Russia could use it if he thinks he is losing the war in Ukraine and NATO is intervening or preparing to intervenehe clarified.
But even in this case, he will probably send signals before doing so, Avril Haines noted.
Source: Radio-Canada
