Putin will promise anything to buy time before striking Ukraine again — general

Ukrainian Armed Forces Reserve Major General Serhii Kryvonos stated this on Espreso TV.

"Currently, Putin is indeed facing a serious and significant shortfall in financial provisions for 2026. This will make itself felt around April-May. Taking into account our systematic strikes on Russia's oil and gas industrial complex over the past year, in just the first half of the year alone we reduced Russia's budget revenues by 22-24%, and the figures are the same for the second half," Kryvonos noted.

According to the reserve major general, Putin is bluffing when he claims he still has plenty of resources, but he lacks the strategic reserves necessary to maintain a large army and conduct military operations on such a scale. Therefore, Putin needs a respite, he needs sanctions lifted. And he will make any promises to obtain this respite, only to strike Ukraine again at some point in the future.

"I don't believe in a ceasefire, and even less do I believe in guarantees. We've been burned many times before, and our biggest burn was the Budapest Memorandum, where Russia, the U.S., and Great Britain promised us that everything would be fine. But when things didn't turn out fine, everyone said we misunderstood. And Russia said nothing at all—it simply violated the agreement. Therefore, the best guarantor of our security will be our own powerful army, a strong economy, and trained and motivated people," Kryvonos emphasized.

• American leader Donald Trump has stated that currently it is Ukraine, not Russia, that is stalling a potential deal to end the war.