Putin wants to give a decisive blow near Romania. “There is a clear and imminent danger if we do not act now”

Russian President Vladimir Putin aspires for his forces to conquer Odessa to cut Ukraine's access to his main port on the Black Sea, Monday Financial Times (FT), citing an anonymity official with access to sensitive information, whose identity does not offer more details.

Putin considers Odessa as a “Russian historical city”, so he will try to occupy him, said the cited official, according to Agerpres.

The true goal

For the Kremlin leader, this official says, the capture of Odessa is the main objective of the war against Ukraine.

At the same time, the mood in Kiev and among a series of European leaders in terms of Ukraine's prospects is not very encouraging. In any case, military analysts note that both Ukraine and Russia approach the point of exhaustion of forces and resources.

Some of them appreciate that the Russian Federation will be able to maintain the current level of operations on the front for another year, while the Ukrainian forces if they do not receive the expected help could reach the limit in the next six months, FT wrote, taken by The Moscow Times.

Some NATO leaders believe that the situation on the front could be seriously damaged in the autumn, writes Gideon Rachman, the main commentator for FT FRT, based on discussions with high-ranking European alliance leaders and politicians.

Unlike the US administration, few European responsible people believe that Russia is willing to accept a ceasefire at present.

In March, Putin himself spoke about Russia's claims over Odessa, and in April, so did his counselor, Nikolai Potișev.

The office of the Presidency in Kiev recently said that Russia's plans are still aiming at Ukrainian territories to isolate Ukraine from the Black Sea, including the capture of Odessa and the city of Nikolaiv in the south of the country.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is convinced that his army will be able to completely conquer until the end of this year the four Ukrainian regions (Donansk, Luhansk, Herson and Zaporojie) claimed by Kremlin.

Zelenski's warning

The Kremlin's plans to conquer Odessa himself spoke to the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenski at the Southern-European Summit on June 11 in Odessa.

Zelenski said then that Russia's military plans are targeting Odessa to reach the border with the Republic of Moldova and Romania, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

The state of mind was worse and among the Ukrainian leadership, who, during meetings with closed doors with Western allies, are increasingly insisting on the need to exert Russia to reach a cessation of fire, notes Rachman.

A year or two ago, such discussions would have been considered in Kiev as a defective, he adds.

“A clear and imminent danger to Europe”

Similar observations have been exhibited by several politicians-former leaders of some European countries, including Polish President Aleksander Kwasiewski, Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and Dutch Minister Kajsa Olongren-who visited Kiev.

“Our conclusion, following the conversations with officials, experts and military leaders is that there is a clear and imminent danger to Europe if we do not act more decisively,” they wrote.

“Although the Ukrainians will continue to withstand, without more military support, Ukraine could lose more territory. More cities could be conquered. It will endanger over 500 million European citizens,” they are an alarm signal in a message quoted by Moscow Times.

Europe – support them – should immediately offer Ukraine money for the purchase of weapons, with which Ukrainian producers could significantly increase production and supply the army. For a launch at the maximum capacity for armament production, funds between $ 10 and 15 billion would be required, it is mentioned in the message of former European responsible ones.

The risk of a “catastrophic failure”

Some Western officials have warned in the risk of a “catastrophic failure” without a significant increase in military and financial aid, if Russia manages to extend the Ukrainian defense and break it, warns the FT commentator.

According to the chief commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Oleksandr Sîrski, in the last year the front line has increased by over 160 km and exceeds 1,200 km.

Rachman also quotes opposite opinions: optimists believe that the Ukrainian army will be able to resist next year, as its drones make it impossible to advance large groups of Russian troops and, even if the defense is pierced, Russia does not have enough mechanized divisions to take advantage of this.

“The operational situation on the front line is very complex for both parties. The Russians beat their heads how to launch an offensive enough to advance without being intercepted by the artillery or Ukrainian drones,” said the Massicot, a military expert, a senior researcher at Carnegie Endowment for International.

In any case, this summer is not expected a decisive turn in the Ukraine war, he appreciated the cited expert.