Putin seeks no end to war, plans escalation - Bloomberg

Bloomberg reports.

US officials say they see no signs that Putin was serious about finding a way to end the fighting at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Alexei Mukhin, head of the Moscow-based Center for Political Information, which provides consulting services to the presidential administration, believes that the Russian dictator is planning to escalate: "His (Putin's - ed.) goal is victory."

"Putin’s likely to escalate now," Mukhin said.

It is also noted that the Russian leader, having intensified the shelling of Ukrainian cities after the so-called elections, himself stated that he was not interested in giving Ukraine and its allies time to rearm if he agreed to a pause in the fighting.

A possible proof that he is planning an escalation is the groundless accusation of Ukraine of a terrorist attack in the Moscow region. This raises speculation that the Kremlin may be preparing the ground for an escalation of the war.

According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Russia plans to form two new combined arms armies, 14 divisions and 16 brigades by the end of this year. 

However, it is noted that despite all this, Russia may currently have problems with conducting new large-scale offensives to capture cities such as Kharkiv and Odesa. 

"I don’t believe the take over of Kharkiv is possible. The Kremlin doesn’t have enough forces for such a task and the city is too big," said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies at the Moscow Defense Analytical Center. 

"For a real breakthrough in this war, Russia needs much better communication capabilities, many more high-precision weapons and many more people," he said.