It is going to take a wall of tanks, air power, and air defenses to defend Ukraine’s border going forward – and that’s if Putin agrees to a ceasefire.  Read on for the discussion with Jon Scott of FOX News and video clip here.

Vladimir Putin (on tape): At some point, we absolutely need to sit down and seriously discuss specific issues; we need to put everything in diplomatic language.

Jon Scott: That’s Russian President Vladimir Putin on the draft U.S. peace plan that could end the Ukraine war.  President Trump is touting what he calls tremendous progress, even as both sides make it clear there’s a lot of work to do.  National security and military analyst Rebecca Grant joins me now.  Dr. Grant, Vladimir Putin is kind of talking like he’s already won something here.  Has he?

Rebecca Grant: Oh, this is no victory for Putin.  I’m hopeful with Ambassador Witkoff in Moscow that we’ll see some real progress.  The way this could turn out is that Ukraine will thrive because the core of this deal is a strong economic future for Ukraine.  Russia has a million casualties, a shattered economy, and they’re a vassal state to China.  So this is no victory for Putin.

Jon Scott: But if Ukraine could hang on through the winter, I mean, the situation for Russia isn’t going to get any better, is it?

Rebecca Grant: The tactical situation for Russia is that they’re making only very slow progress, literally on foot in the Donbass. Ukraine is pretty much holding them.  Their air defenses are working against those horrendous drone and missile attacks.  Putin cannot take Ukraine. He’s not going to get rid of Zelensky, he’s not going to achieve all those goals, and he’s paid a terrible price for it.  So, I’m hoping that they are finding the sort of economic and diplomatic enticements that will get Putin to agree to a ceasefire.  Of course, he’s already talking about some problems, like expecting Ukraine to pull back in the Donbass before a ceasefire, and all that same old rigmarole.  He hasn’t agreed to anything all year.

Jon Scott: Unfortunately, the former ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker says you got to turn up the heat on Putin, and that he isn’t feeling enough of it yet.  Listen.

Ambassador Kurt Volker: Putin does not feel enough pressure that he has to do anything, that he has a reason to end the war.  We need to have secondary sanctions on anyone dealing with Russian oil and gas.  President Trump already put in place the oil sanctions, and we had gas sanctions with Biden, but companies that are in China, or India, or Azerbaijan, they don’t feel any reason not to trade with Russia, so we have to put secondary sanctions on them to make them just stop.

Jon Scott: What do you think about that idea, secondary sanctions on those who are buying Russian oil and gas?

Rebecca Grant: Right.  If Putin isn’t going to take the deal that they’re working on now, then yes, it is high time for secondary sanctions that are also going to affect China, and probably for more direct military pressure from Ukraine on legit Russian targets in Crimea or against their oil and gas infrastructure, their air bases, you name it.  Because Ambassador Volker is right.  Putin’s got to feel the pressure.  Either he takes the economic enticements or it’s the pressure from legit military options.

Jon Scott: Meantime, the video is horrific. I mean, Russia launched hundreds of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, hits these apartment buildings in Kyiv, and the world sort of yawns and says, “Oh, civilian targets, no big deal.”  Why is there not more of an outcry against what Vladimir Putin is doing?

Rebecca Grant: It’s because Ukraine, with the Patriot air defense missiles and others, is doing such a great job of intercepting, and we are helping them with that.  But it’s a humanitarian disaster.  And honestly, this war needs to end for America’s sake as well, because it’s unleashed this geopolitical chaos with China, Russia, and North Korea. I tell you, it is going to take a wall of tanks, air power, and air defenses to defend Ukraine’s border going forward.  I’d like to see every Russian out of Ukraine, but I want to see a prosperous Ukraine that thrives as well, under peace.

This article was originally published on the Lexington Institute: Putin Has Paid a Terrible Price for Goals He Will Not Achieve (From FOX News) | Lexington Institute

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