War is Putin's salvation, any ceasefire signals defeat — diplomat

He expressed this opinion during a broadcast on Espreso.

"The goal of the full-scale war was the destruction of us, Ukrainians, as a nation, as an ethnic group, and the destruction of our Ukrainian state. At best, one could have expected a puppet from Moscow who would follow all of the Kremlin's orders. That did not happen, and it will not happen. Even with some temporary ceasefire. A ceasefire would confirm that Ukraine exists, the Ukrainian people exist, and Ukraine will continue. 

Therefore, for Putin, any halt to the war would be a sign of his total strategic defeat. Yes, he can, of course, through propaganda, say: 'Look, I won. I broke through a corridor from Donbas to Crimea, the Sea of Azov is our internal sea.' And tell a million other utterly inadequate things," he said.

According to Volodymyr Ohryzko, Russian dictator Putin understands that the moment his regime collapses, everything will return to its place.

"Therefore, his goal is to drag the war on as long as possible, doing everything to ensure it does not end, occupying at least 5 square meters a day, but still holding this line. Because the war is his salvation. When the war ends, the collapse of the Russian pseudo-empire will begin. The collapse of this so-called monolithic, strong, and powerful statehood will happen, and it will crumble like a house of cards, just like the Soviet Union. 

That is why, although we will be under tremendous pressure tomorrow and not just tomorrow, we need to hold the line, we need to do everything so that Putin becomes the person who will ultimately provoke something like fury and rejection from Trump. We can and should play on this," the diplomat said.

• On April 22, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had a conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot ahead of negotiations on April 23 in London.
• On April 23, representatives of Ukraine, the U.S., the UK, and France will hold talks in London. The meeting will focus on a possible ceasefire agreement with Russia.