Putin has no reason to stop the war — Hodges
Former commander of U.S. Army Europe Ben Hodges stated that Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin has no incentive to end the war, as there is effectively no “political retirement” scenario for him. According to the general, it is more advantageous for Russia to use nuclear threats as a tool of pressure than to actually deploy such weapons. At the same time, he emphasized that the danger must not be underestimated, as the Russian authorities have no moral constraints on escalation.
This view was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by former U.S. Army Europe commander Ben Hodges.
“There is no benefit for Russia in using nuclear weapons. The only benefit for them is the threat… Because (they) see that most governments are terrified by the idea of nuclear war,” said the retired general.
He noted that the Biden administration, for example, hesitated to provide aid to Ukraine, and Washington never stated that it wanted Ukraine to win. Hodges is convinced that the U.S. was concerned about the threat of nuclear war. At the same time, he noted that the countries that would suffer the most from a Russian nuclear strike if Russia were to use such weapons are less concerned about this than those located further away.
Commenting on the recent Russian-Belarusian nuclear exercises, the former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe expressed the view that all of this is part of information operations. At the same time, he acknowledged that the threat cannot be completely ignored, since Russia does indeed possess thousands of nuclear warheads and has no moral restraints; “they clearly don’t care how many innocent people die.”
Hodges also believes that Putin does not currently feel cornered. At the same time, voices can be heard in the West calling for the Russian dictator to be given “a way out.”
“He has a way out: he can withdraw his troops. It is not the West’s job to give him a way out of the mess he created and with which he has caused so much damage. I believe that the West must now be committed to helping Ukraine defeat Russia, which means a return to the 1991 borders,” stated the retired U.S. Army general.
He is convinced that Putin has no incentive to stop, as he has no “retirement” plan—he knows he will be killed: he has destroyed Russia, its reputation, and his own army; he has alienated most buyers of Russian oil and gas. Therefore, Putin needs this war to remain in power.
In his view, no one responsible for war crimes against Ukraine should feel safe. “Every Russian general who is somewhere in the chain of command and responsible for war crimes or anything else they’ve done will be looking over their shoulder and checking under their car for the rest of their lives, because they know the GUR is somewhere nearby… None of these people should ever be able to enjoy a peaceful retirement because of the war crimes they have committed,” Hodges emphasized.
Putinand Xi Jinping discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine — Peskov.
Vladimir Putin, following U.S. President Donald Trump, arrived in China for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During his visit to China, Vladimir Putin had hoped to secure Beijing’s approval for the construction of a new large-scale gas pipeline, but the talks ended without a result.
