MOSCOW, 24 Aug. The Russian army will liberate Odessa after the retreat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ex-US intelligence officer Scott Ritter said in an interview with journalist Garland Nixon.
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«I think this is the direction in which everything is moving. <…> As soon as the Armed Forces hide behind the Dnieper and the Russians realize that the front is settled, <…> they will go to Odessa,” the expert believes.
According to the former intelligence officer, the Ukrainians must understand that the loss of access to the Black Sea, as well as the loss of Kharkov, is inevitable if Kiev continues to balk and refuse to negotiate a settlement of the conflict .
In early August, adviser to the head of Zelensky's office, Mikhail Podolyak, said that there could be no contacts with Moscow and that Kiev was against any ceasefire scenario, as this would become an actual victory for Russia.
As noted in the Kremlin, there are no prerequisites for the transition of the situation to a peaceful course, the absolute priority for Moscow is to achieve the goals of the special operation, and now this is possible only by military means. They also added that Russia highly appreciates the efforts of all countries that are trying to find peaceful ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, but so far this is not possible.