“Ukraine will win by the end of 2023” - Gintaras Bagdonas

The retired Colonel believes that the biggest reason why Ukraine will win is the desire of the people to fight for their land to the last.

“I have no doubts that Ukraine will win, and most likely the victory will be achieved by the end of next year. At the same time, we should not underestimate Russia. First of all, my judgment (about Ukraine's victory - ed.) is based on the will of the Ukrainian nation to fight. Another factor is that Russia is exhausted. However, we should be careful with the assessments of Russia's capabilities, as it still has huge reserves. Russian soldiers fight without any motivation, while Ukrainians, both military and civilians, have a strong determination, so I have no doubts about the victory,” he said. 

The former director of the Lithuanian Military Intelligence and Security organization thinks that only a red line crossed by Russia can involve NATO in the war.

“Little possibility (to involve NATO in the Ukraine-Russia war -ed). When talking about NATO, we should consider all NATO nations. And there's not a single NATO nation in the Alliance that would like to be engaged in the war unless the red line is crossed by Russia. For example, such as the use of nuclear weapons,” he noted. 

Gintaras Bagdonas concluded that, unfortunately, the partners are not helping Ukraine to their full potential, because “partners, allies and political leaders of the countries are afraid of escalation. They don't want to be engaged in the war.”