Putin will agree to Ukraine's accession to EU, NATO under certain conditions - journalist Portnikov

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"I keep saying that the Russian-Ukrainian war is primarily a demographic war. We have many people who are obsessed with territory. This is an echo of the USSR. That is, the war is usually perceived not as a war for independence and freedom, but for the restoration of territorial integrity and international law.

I also support this approach, but the restoration of international law must be accompanied by the preservation of the population. For example, yesterday was the anniversary of the Second Karabakh War. Azerbaijan liberated a huge part of its sovereign territory from Armenian control. However, there are no people left there. Azerbaijan did not lose anyone. They had as many people as they had, and they still have. The situation in Ukraine is completely different," Portnikov explained.

According to the journalist, the Russians' main goal is to create terrible living conditions in Ukraine and reduce the population in the territory.

"The Russians think that they are waging a war against Ukraine and cannot capture us, but according to their position, they can clear the territory of Ukraine of Ukrainians. That is, after the war, there will be 15 million Ukrainians instead of 40 million, and this will be a victory for them. Even if they have to agree to the fact of Ukraine's sovereignty, accession to the EU and NATO. Even under these conditions, it will be a victory for them. The later the Russians agree to these conditions, the harder the living conditions they make for us, the fewer Ukrainians there will be here," he added.