The efforts of Russian diplomacy are currently aimed at creating a split in the international community regarding the war in Ukraine. This is the opinion of Boris Bondaryov, who worked for 20 years in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but resigned in protest after the Russian invasion. He is the only Russian diplomat to have taken such a step.
“The aggression will end when it ends,” he told BNT. “Or when one of the parties wins. Or they have to figure out how to settle this issue, because no one can achieve victory. Or if there are some changes in Russia and the country changes its positions towards Ukraine. So far I don’t see any prospects the war to stop.”
What can now stop Putin and his regime from further escalation of the war?
According to him, only the firm, coordinated and united position of the Western countries, which will declare that the war must end, is capable of stopping Putin from expanding the conflict further.
“Basically, he can’t win the war because the West is ready to direct its huge resources to support Ukraine. The West is not afraid of Putin’s threats to use weapons, nuclear weapons, any weapons, if he starts to lose . If such a position is stated to him – categorical, firm, without any hesitation, as we see in some European countries, it would have an effect on Putin. Then he may understand that it is appropriate to lower the degrees of tension a little. But while he hopes he has a chance to win, nothing will stop him,” explains Bondaryov.
The diplomat is of the opinion that there will be no nuclear catastrophe.
“Russian diplomacy works in the same way as before the war. It’s just that now the field of maneuver for Russian diplomacy has narrowed sharply, because the Western countries stopped contacts with it. Russian diplomacy is now trying to strengthen its contacts with African countries, Asian countries, with some Latin American countries to show that Russia is not in isolation, and possibly to get some support from these countries in the UN when voting on various resolutions. That is, it is an attempt to create a split in the world community. This is how they want to show that the world community is not united in its assessment of Russian aggression, of war. And I must note that in this regard, Russian diplomacy is achieving certain successes,” he says.
According to Bondaryov, there is a certain isolation for Russia.
“First of all by the Western countries because of the sanctions they have introduced, which not every country is ready to violate for fear of being hurt. On the other hand, Russia maintains relations with many countries. China gives it some non-demonstrated support. India is not ready to sever relations with Russia. As we see in Brazil the new old president also claims that things are not so clear-cut and maybe not only Russia is to blame for this war and so on. That is, unfortunately it cannot be said that Russia is in complete isolation,” he opined.
“In any case, Putin’s future will not be very rosy, because he remains isolated and it can hardly be counted on that relations with Western countries will normalize and he will be accepted again in Washington, Paris, Berlin and elsewhere. Hardly anyone will be ready to shake his hand. He will remain a war criminal and the whole question is how long will he stay in power, how long will he drink, spill the blood of Ukrainians, whoever, and threaten the whole world with his weapon. If the war ends quickly with the defeat of Putin, then I think his time will end very quickly. If not, then he will remain in the Kremlin until his death,” adds Bondaryov.
