As President Donald Trump continues trying to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine through diplomacy, former Undersecretary of Defense Robert Wilkie told Newsmax that a sticking point for Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely “about land.”
“Putin is now demanding territory from Ukraine that he doesn’t even occupy,” Wilkie said on “American Agenda.” “If he gets that line that begins in the Donetsk region, what he has done is crack the Ukrainian defensive line, and what I mean by that is that most of the territory that borders Russia and even Russia proper, up to the Ural Mountains behind Moscow, is flat. That’s why Russia has been invaded so many times in its history, because there are no natural barriers.
“In Ukraine, the same applies,” he said. “If Putin were to get that land, it would be wide open for when he restores his armored mechanized forces, it would be wide open for a full-scale invasion. And there won’t be any rivers or forests or fortified areas to stop him. That’s why he wants it, and that’s why it’s a nonstarter for [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy.”
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