Putin's announced Easter truce is only virtual, because the fighting continues. Putin wants to impress Donald Trump and has an interest in Ukraine no longer existing, says German military expert Nico Lange.
Despite the Easter ceasefire announced by Russian President Putin, the bombing in Ukraine continues, as reported by Kiev. Does Putin's word have any value at all?
"None", answers German military expert Nico Lange to this question from ARD. According to him, Putin has been using this tactic since 2014 in Donbass - first announcing a ceasefire, then accusing Ukraine of violating it, in order to have a reason to continue the hostilities. "These games by Putin are not new and have shown that such statements of his have no real value", commented Lange.
"We have seen these games by Putin before"
The German military expert suggests that this time Putin wants to impress Trump and demonstrate to the world that Russia has declared a ceasefire on Easter. "However, only a week ago - on Palm Sunday - the same Putin let Russian ballistic missiles fall on civilians in Ukraine waiting to enter a church. This shows how hypocritical Putin's promises are", Nico Lange told ARD.
The expert recalls Ukrainian President Zelensky's proposal that the ceasefire last not for one day, but for 30 days, which would show whether Putin's intentions are sincere or not. However, there has been no reaction to this proposal so far.
"The ceasefire is only virtual"
As the German military expert further noted, the ceasefire currently exists only virtually, because the fighting on the front continues exactly as before. According to Lange, Putin intends to continue military operations against Ukraine and launch new attacks on Sumy and other directions.
"There are no signs that Putin actually wants a ceasefire. He could have implemented it immediately, and he could have made it a fact a month ago, when Ukraine also announced that it was ready to conclude a ceasefire. But he is not doing so, and we should ask ourselves why this is so?", says military expert Lange. According to him, the Russian president currently has the great advantage that under the leadership of Donald Trump, the US, unfortunately, is clearly on his side.
"Putin has an interest in Ukraine no longer existing"
In front of ARD, Lange also said the following: Putin has an interest in Ukraine no longer existing. And he will continue to fight to achieve this goal. Or he will try to achieve it politically if the US helps him. Unfortunately, there is currently no one to put pressure on Putin so that he is really forced to sit down at the table for serious talks.
In many places there are now calls for diplomacy. But the truth is this: only if you are strong, diplomacy can have an impact on Putin. But neither the US nor the Europeans are putting the necessary pressure on Putin to achieve this effect, military expert Nico Lange concluded in front of ARD.