Putin will reign over Ukraine
A former NATO commander has predicted that the war in Ukraine will end with the country being divided, with Vladimir Putin ultimately taking control of 20% of its territory.
While Russia currently holds the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea, James Stavridis believes that the Russian president will retain all the areas he has already seized after more than two years of fighting.
During an appearance on CNN, the retired military officer even said he would nominate Donald Trump, recently re-elected in the United States, for the Nobel Peace Prize if he kept his promise to end the conflict "within 24 hours."
"What I hope he does, and I think he will, is put pressure on both sides to get to the negotiating table, and it comes out kind of like the end of the Korean War, Michael, which is to say, Putin, unfortunately, but in a real world, will end up with about 20 percent of Ukraine, the chunk that he currently holds, but the rest of Ukraine, the 80 percent, all those resources, vast majority of the population, they stay democratic, free," he explained.
James Stavridis also suggested that Ukraine might join NATO "within three to five years," while Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged NATO members to offer Ukraine an accelerated path to membership.
(QG - Source : CNN / Newsweek / Picture: © Unsplash)