Putin seeks to push Ukrainian forces out of Donbas diplomatically to avoid heavy losses – Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian leader Vladimir Putin is trying to push Ukrainian forces out of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts through negotiations, as he understands that fully occupying Donbas would require sacrificing a massive number of troops.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), citing his interview with The Rest Is Politics podcast

Quote: "I think that Putin understands he can't fully occupy Ukraine… He suffers tremendous losses and doesn't have enough well-trained people on the battlefield. He is trying to find an off-ramp that looks like a victory. That's why he is trying to push us out of Donbas via diplomacy, through dialogue with the United States."

Details: Zelenskyy said fully occupying Donbas would cost Russia between 300,000 and 1 million troops, depending on how long such an operation would take.

"This is a huge price to pay even for Putin," Zelenskyy said.

He also added that Russia understands that the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas could divide Ukrainian society, as many people strongly oppose such a move. This, in turn, could enable Putin to prepare a new offensive aimed at quickly occupying Ukraine.

Quote: "If Ukraine's unity is broken, Putin will come up with a new 'blitzkrieg' to occupy Ukraine very quickly. Even if he doesn't, he will use a subsequent pause to recruit more people, train them, ramp up the defence-industrial base, and get sanctions lifted. So a ceasefire in the format 'stay where we stay' is not only our wish, it is in the interest of our partners too."

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