The Motherland Monument in Kyiv. File photoMOSCOW, June 11Western countries lack a coherent strategy for dealing with the conflict in Ukraine, former head of the British armed forces David Richards said in an article for the British newspaper Telegraph. let's see how things play out, «in other words, this is not a strategy at all,» writes Richards. As he notes, neither in the United States nor in the UK there is an understanding of how the conflict in Ukraine should develop and «what kind of Russia we are trying to shape , especially on the vital long-term issue of relations with China. «Is it possible, using carrot and stick, to convince a weakened Russia to join the West instead of inevitably drawing it into the Chinese sphere of influence?» Richards asks. As he writes further, no one thinks «big» strategically because «no one is brave enough to think beyond the political conventions of the moment.»
The United States called Putin's step, which marks the defeat of EuropeRussia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass.
