Kyiv: Ukraine’s military intelligence chief says Russia may try to split Ukraine into two pieces. According to a statement released by the Defense Ministry on Sunday, Kirillo Budanov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has realized that he cannot swallow the whole of Ukraine. So he will probably try to divide Ukraine under the ‘Korean scenario’. He meant the decades-old division between North and South Korea.
Budanov said that, “Russia will attempt to turn the occupied territories into a quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine.” Pointed to Russian efforts to stop using the hryvnia.
Budanov predicted that Ukraine’s resistance would develop into guerrilla warfare and derail Russia’s efforts. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has distanced himself from US President Joe Biden’s statement, in which Biden has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. Macron has appealed for efforts to reduce tension.
Macron has spoken to the President of Russia several times for peace in Ukraine, but his efforts have so far failed. He will once again hold talks with Putin on Sunday or Monday. “We must be factual and do everything possible so that the situation does not go out of control,” the French president told the channel when asked about Biden’s remarks.
Macron said, “I will not use those words, because I have been talking to Putin. All we want collectively is that the war imposed by Russia on Ukraine should stop.