Military victory unlikely in Russia-Ukraine war, says Swedish army chief Bydén

Micael Bydén
Micael Bydén
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At this stage neither Russia nor Ukraine can win the war militarily, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces Micael Bydén said in an interview with RND on May 22.

"The end of the war is not in sight, and neither Russia nor Ukraine has enough influence to win this war militarily," he said.

“I really expect the war to last for a very long time.”

Sweden has taken this into account in its strategic security and military assistance plans for Ukraine. The Russian army still has more military capabilities and forces that they can use against Ukrainians, which further aggravates the situation on the ground.

Read also: Ukraine war unlikely to end soon — US intelligence

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "has prepared the Russian economy for war in a way that we cannot," Byden added.

"We are too slow in many areas, for example, in the defense industry and in the government," he said.

“Our agencies are not designed for war; bureaucracy, administration and legislation slow us down. Look at the pace of Russia's development after Putin switched the economy to a war economy, and despite all the Western sanctions, it can still produce enough for a very, very long war.”

Probability of peace talks with Russia

At a press conference following the Ukraine. The Year 2024 forum on Feb. 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the country would offer Putin a platform where he could accept losing the war against Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said in an interview with CBS on March 28 that the Russian dictator would be ready for a dialogue when he loses what he has occupied since 2022.

Reacting to this statement, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, appealed to the "accession" of the occupied parts of Ukraine to Russia.

Russian media reported that former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, after an interview with the dictator, said that Putin "told him off the record that he was ready to make a serious compromise on Ukraine," but the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security denied this statement and called it another "dump."

Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, said in an interview with The Economist on May 3 that he sees no way for Ukraine to win the war on the battlefield alone. He believes that the war will end with a peace treaty.

According to a new survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 72% of Ukrainians agree that Ukraine should seek a diplomatic way to end the war with Russia.

Read also: Most Russians back Ukraine war, survey results show

Europe 1 reported on May 17 that Western countries are seeking to convince President Zelenskyy to agree to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine.

In mid-June 2024, Switzerland plans to host a high-level conference on Ukraine's Peace Formula, which may be attended by 80 to 100 countries. Russia will not attend this summit.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine