Putin friend threatens:

“Ukraine and Moldova could disappear in 2025”

Relatives and comrades mourn the loss of a fallen Ukrainian soldier. How many more sons, brothers, husbands and fathers will die before the guns fall silent?

(Bild: APA/AP)

The Kremlin only wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine with the USA - without the involvement of other Western countries. At the same time, a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin is pondering the possible end of Ukraine and Moldova as independent states.

Nikolai Patrushev, former Secretary of the Russian Security Council, said in an interview with the Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on Tuesday that both countries had fallen into crisis due to their anti-Russian policies. "It is not impossible that Ukraine will cease to exist this year," he said. In the case of Moldova, it is likely "that it will become another state or cease to exist at all".

Patrushev (73) is a close associate of Putin and an advocate of Russia's claims to great power status, even though he has only been responsible for shipping policy in the Kremlin since 2024.

Regarding possible talks with the new US President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated in a few days, Patrushev noted: "Moscow will only accept a peace settlement in the Ukraine war if the Crimean peninsula and the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson remain unbreakably with Russia." There is nothing to talk about with the EU in Brussels or with London.

Nikolai Patrushev (73) is a close associate of Vladimir Putin and an advocate of Russia's claims to great power status.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin)

How Moscow envisions a "lasting peace"
Weeks ago, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had already explained how Moscow envisioned a "lasting peace". He made it clear that a "weak ceasefire" was out of the question.

His country wants a binding agreement for a lasting peace that guarantees the security of Russia and its neighbors. "A ceasefire is a road to nowhere," said Lavrov at a press conference in Moscow. The West would merely use a weak ceasefire to rearm Ukraine.

In this context, the 74-year-old chief diplomat brought "legitimate security interests" of the Russians into play: "We need final legal agreements that set out all the conditions for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbors." Russia wants to draft the documents in such a way that a violation of these agreements is impossible.

Support from Germany is crumbling
Future military aid to Kiev is also not certain, which worsens the Ukrainian negotiating position. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is currently campaigning for a significant reduction in support. He is also encountering internal resistance.

Pistorius wants to continue fighting for Ukraine.

(Bild: AFP)

According to Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), Berlin will soon provide 60 additional missiles for the Iris-T air defense system to defend against Russian attacks. According to the German Press Agency, the delivery will be made from Bundeswehr stocks. The total cost of the missiles is around 60 million euros. Due to the difficult situation in the Ukraine, the decision was made without the subsequent financing having been clarified.

Pistorius also met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj in Kiev on Tuesday. The Defense Minister expressed the expectation that a solution would be found in ongoing negotiations in Germany regarding further aid for Ukraine amounting to three billion euros.