Vladimir Putin will not survive ten years, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed, rubbishing the idea the war could drag on for 30 years.
Speaking to Brazil‘s TV Globo, Zelensky was quick to dismiss claims the conflict could slow to a gruelling war of attrition the length of time Russia has been in Syria.
He said: ‘It can’t. Putin won’t live that many years. He did not fight in Syria at the pace he is fighting us. That is why he will not stand 30 years. He will not exist, he will die.
Zelensky forecast that an ailing Putin, now 70, ‘won’t survive even ten years’.
He said that Putin’s forces realise ‘deep down’ that they cannot win, and that their plan to subjugate Ukraine is hopeless.
‘All their actions on the battlefield indicate that today Russia is not able to completely occupy Ukraine and destroy us,’ he said.
Speaking to Brazilian television, Zelensky said the war in Ukraine could not go on like Syria
He said that Vladimir Putin, who is now 70, could not even survive another ten years
Zelensky claimed the war in
As Russia reports on Ukrainian drones now smashing into Moscow skyscrapers, Zelensky said: ‘deep down in their hearts, they all already realise that they can no longer. They cannot.’
He said: ‘They were capable at the beginning of it. They thought they would.
‘And we did something inside the state and from outside that we were able to become stronger than them.’
He vowed that he and his generation would resist any future bid by Russia to regroup and seek to defeat Ukraine.
‘As long as we are alive, we will not let them become as strong as they were,’ he said.
He said the long running war in Syria was a tragedy but Russia’s aggression in Ukraine was on a different scale, and noted the warning signs overseas.
‘I do not think that the world has united around the Syrian tragedy. I believe it was a mistake.
‘And it is always a big mistake when the world thinks that the war is somewhere far away.
‘I don’t think it’s my heroism that I united the countries that are helping us today.
‘No, I believe that it is every person in our state who, in his place, has done something that is very important at a very important moment.
‘This is both desire and coincidence.
‘And our devotion is absolute devotion, freedom or death.’
Zelensky’s comments come as he is expected to attend an upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly to push a 10-point peace formula.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that he is likely to take part in sessions during the UNGA gathering in September.
He plans to spell out a ‘peace formula’ calling for Russian troops to withdraw completely from Ukraine.
It would also aim at the release of all prisoners of war and deportees, and ensure food and energy security.
Near the top of the agenda is the status of the occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant, which experts have warned risks ‘catastrophe’ if caught up in fighting.
Ukraine has been recovering steady ground through its counteroffensive this year as a number of incursions have separately taken place on Russian soil, weakening the invaders’ position.
A Moscow tower block housing seven government ministries came under drone attack in the early hours of this morning.
Explosions in the building were reported for the second time in two nights.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, although ambulances were at the scene.
It appears to be part of a wider trend of increased attacks on Russian soil.
Ukrainian officials have declined to claim or deny responsibility for drone strikes on Russian territory.
But three drones used recently – according to an analysis by the New York Times – were Ukrainian-made.
‘Putin won’t live that many years. He did not fight in Syria at the pace he is fighting us,’ he said
Zelensky (C) shaking hands with a wounded Ukrainian serviceman in a military hospital during his working visit in Ivano-Frankivsk region, western Ukraine
Ukrainian service members of the 35th Separate Marines Brigade attend a military drill near a frontline, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 31, 2023
In May, the US reminded Ukraine that military aid was for use in the defence of the country, not to launch incursions into neighbouring Belgorod.
National Security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on May 25: ‘We’ve been very clear that we want Ukraine to be able to defend its own soil, its own territory.’
He continued: ‘But, we’ve also been clear, well, that we don’t want to see this war escalate beyond this, the devastation and the violence that is already visited on the Ukrainian people.’
Separately, Russia faced internal clashes in late June, when its hired Wagner Group mercenaries appeared to mutiny and turn to march on Moscow – before suddenly falling back.
Polls conducted by the Khroniki project suggest support for the war remains high in Russian regions closer to the front.
The national average remains as high as 60 per cent.
Surveys by three independent polling groups, shared by the Wilson Center, show support for the war in Russia rise in spring 2022, fall as the invaders made less ground in the summer and autumn, and then rise again slightly in early 2023.
However, the Wilson Center noted limitations to the polls, as every third respondent said they were afraid to talk about their attitude towards the actions of the country’s leadership.
They observed that Russian loyalists were also more likely to agree to be surveyed than regime opponents.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk