Because the West watches appalled at Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine, consideration is more and more turning to the query of Vladimir Putin’s long term ambition, and the potential for this conflagration to show right into a wider conflict.
Matthew Sussex, affiliate professor on the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith College and an knowledgeable on Russia, believes Putin gained’t wish to cease at subjugating Ukraine.
“Putin himself appears completely personally invested in recreating the footprint no less than of the USSR – actually not its ideology, however its footprint.”
“He has for a very long time mentioned that Ukraine doesn’t should exist as a state. That Ukrainians and Russians are only one individuals pushed aside by the West.
“So he has […] achieved a few of his goals already.”
“And the fear is, in fact, that if Putin will get what he needs in Ukraine, then he is not going to cease. He’ll then flip his eyes to Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia – presumably even Poland can be informed in just a few years time that it doesn’t have the best to exist as a sovereign state.”
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On whether or not there’s a risk of the conflict in Ukraine resulting in a navy battle with the West, Sussex says: “Completely. It’s probably the case that Putin, who’s a gambler, will attempt to up the ante by staging some form of demonstration of energy towards NATO, or even perhaps a provocation straight towards NATO troops.
“Many, many wars in historical past have been began accidentally, by overconfidence, by miscalculation. And this is the reason it’s a really, very harmful time.”
Michelle Grattan doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.
